


All That Can Happen In A Year

by Rielleity



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: High School, M/M, Pining, Set after the events of the winter cup, Slow Build, some other hinted at relationships but never specified
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-09-13 22:56:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 55,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9145816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rielleity/pseuds/Rielleity
Summary: A story about Aomine falling in love with Kagami over the space of a year.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first Aokaga/Kagaao story.  
> This story is set after the events of the Winter Cup and follows the characters around over the space of a year.  
> I won't be going into any detail about the obvious tournaments that they would have with each other and I won't be making any reference to the Vorpal Swords either. It'll just a be a story focusing on the relationship between our two basketball idiots :)  
> So with that said I hope you enjoy my work ^_^

January 1st:

“4...3...2...1... Happy New Year!”

The shrine erupted in cheers as friends and family hugged one another; celebrating the first few seconds of the New Year. Daiki smiled as he watched Satsuki tackle Tetsu with one of her classic over powered hugs, then slid his gaze over to the tall red-head who was grinning from ear to ear. He wasn’t sure when it had started but lately he’d noticed that the man was grabbing his attention far too often for Daiki’s liking. Sort of in the same way anything bright in a room would always distract you and demand that you look at it.

It irritated him that Kagami seemed to be doing this to him.

Yet the thing that irritated Daiki the most about this new habit of his was–

Seeming to notice his gaze, Kagami flicked his eyes over to Daiki who instantly looked away and pretended to be interested in a stall that was propped up next to their group.

Yes the thing that irritated him the most was that Kagami never seemed to let him stare for too long. The boy would always sense Daiki’s gaze and lock eyes with him as if he were challenging him, daring him to continue with his childish habit. Unfortunately Daiki tended to lose and would have to bury his attention elsewhere.

“Dai-chan!” Satsuki cried, running over to hug him and crushing him around the middle.

Daiki winced slightly but patted her on the head nonetheless. He took a quick peek over at the other two, while Satsuki buried her face into his jacket, and saw that they were fist bumping each other. Seriously? Is that all they ever did? Daiki snickered quietly to himself which caused Satsuki to look up at him.

“Promise me you’ll be good this year,” Satsuki said, eyes wide and full of hope.

“Huh?” Daiki answered glancing down at her. “As if I would make such a promise.”

Satsuki made her pouting face before dislodging herself from him and returning to Tetsu’s side.

“Tetsu-kun!” Satsuki whined. “Dai-chan’s being mean to me!”

“What? I am not!” Daiki said defensively as Tetsu gave him a blank look. “I said I’m not!”

“Ha-ha, want me to hit him for you?” Kagami asked jokingly, causing Satsuki to smile back at him.

“As if you even could, Bakagami!” Daiki snorted, getting slightly irritated that he was taking her side.

“What was that Ahomine?” Kagami questioned with ice in his voice as he removed his hands from his hoodie pocket.

“I said –”

“That’s enough,” Tetsu cut in, staring them both down.

Sheepishly they looked away from each other as they both realised that they’d been making a bit of a scene. People in the crowd around them were muttering and whispering, ‘teens these days’, while giving them unimpressed looks.

“How about we go and get something warm to drink?” Satsuki offered to their now silent group.

Kagami and Daiki both mumbled agreement.

“Great!” Satsuki chimed. “Let’s go then!”

With that they began to make their way down the shrine steps. Satsuki, who wanted to inform Kagami of her favourite hot drink choices, was side by side with him in the front, while he and Tetsu followed silently at the back. As he watched the exchange before him, Daiki felt his fists start to clench in his jacket pockets. It was irritating him slightly that he couldn’t have a normal conversation like that with Kagami. Why did he feel the need to constantly rile the other man up?

_Because Kagami’s an idiot, that’s why_ , Daiki thought answering his own questions.

“Oh, it’s snowing,” Tetsu stated, making him jump slightly.

Seriously, he knew Tetsu was there, how did he even......oh never mind.

Glancing up towards the sky he saw that his friend was right, as little snowflakes began to dance around them. He smiled as he saw the groups faces light up. Yet the one that he seemed to notice the most was Kagami’s, whose eyes glowed with excitement. He looked like a kid experiencing something amazing for the first time.

“Man, I love snow,” Kagami breathed.

Daiki chuckled, but realised too late that he shouldn’t have as Kagami gave him a sharp glare. Instantly he directed his eyes towards the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with the red-head, as he suddenly found his shoes very interesting.

Thankfully, Tetsu chose to save him.

“Why is that Kagami-kun?”

Feeling the heated gaze move from him, Daiki internally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well I grew up in L.A. so we never used to get snow in winter. It was always too warm.”

Daiki glanced up at their conversation to see Kagami smiling warmly at Tetsu and he felt his insides do something funny. Something that they only tended to do when he saw a girl with a nice pair of breasts walk by. No, even then it wasn’t the same, that feeling was lower, more in his groin area; this feeling was more like in his stomach.

Crap, was he getting sick?

Seeming to decide that it was time to move on, the group resumed their walk out of the shrine. All the while Daiki couldn’t help but stare at the back of Kagami’s head.

_...maybe I’m the idiot..._

 

January 7th:

Daiki was sitting in a booth at Maji with Satsuki and Tetsu sitting opposite him as they talked about the plans that they had for the New Year. He was completely bored and had kind of wished that Kagami had joined them so that he’d at least have someone to tease or maybe even stare at since there wasn’t a single good-looking, big-chested girl in the whole joint. Sighing he gazed out the window until he realised that Tetsu was talking to him.

“Sorry, what?” Daiki asked in his lazy slurred voice.

Looking back on it he should have realised that Tetsu had said something serious from the way his friends face had become un-readable. He also should have probably made a run for it when he caught the highlighted look in Satsuki’s eyes; yet he had lazily stayed slumped in the booth like a sloth.

“I said,” Kuroko began as he repeated himself. “How long have you liked Kagami-kun for?”

Daiki just blinked at his old friend as he failed to make sense of what he was saying.

“Huh?” was the most intelligible thing that came out of his mouth.

“Mmm, let me try again,” Tetsu said thinking. “How long have you had a crush on Kagami-kun for?”

Daiki looked back and forth between his two friends; Tetsu giving him the usual blank look and Satsuki acting like she’d just found the biggest gossip there was.

“What the fuck Tetsu?” Daiki managed to finally say. “That’s disgusting.”

The two friends looked at each other then appeared to deflate a little.

“I was kinda hoping that he would blush slightly,” Satsuki muttered behind her hand; and yet he heard every word.

“Why would I blush over something that gross,” Daiki inquired with irritation in his voice.

“My apologies Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been staring at Kagami-kun a lot lately so I thought you were crushing on him.”

Fuck, so Tetsu had noticed.

“How long have you known me Tetsu,” he said defensively. “Kagami doesn’t fit the perfect package in the slightest.”

“And why’s that Aomine-kun?”

“Well to start, he’s the wrong gender,” Daiki scoffed.

Why did he even have to explain this to them. This is Kagami-kun they were talking about. The big basketball idiot. Ha, there was another reason.

“He’s huge, not cute at all. Doesn’t have big boobs,” Daiki continued, “or even a good ass and then there’s his stupid face with his ridicules eyebrows...wait why do I even need to list this shit?”

Tetsu just shrugged. “Although in Kagami-kun’s defence he does have quite a nice ass.”

Satsuki let out one of her high pitched squeals that had several people turning around to take a look at them.

“You’ve seen his ass Tetsu-kun?” she breathed gripping her face.

To which Tetsu nodded.

“We’ve changed together before and spent time in the hot springs during our training breaks.”

“Yo, you sound like the one with a crush on him Tetsu,” Daiki snickered.

“Dai-chan, don’t say such things,” Satsuki pouted.

 “Oh so when Tetsu says it, it’s fine, but when I say it, it’s not?” Daiki snapped in announce.

“Momoi-san is right Aomine-kun, please don’t say such ridiculous things,” Tetsu said flatly.

Daiki glared at the both of them.

“Well I don’t have a crush on that idiot,” he stated, making sure that they understood him.

“So why do you stare at him then?” Tetsu asked, clearly not ready to let the topic drop.

“I don’t,” Daiki tried.

“Yes you do.”

“Dai-chan, even I’ve noticed,” Satsuki added, siding with Tetsu.

Daiki grinded his teeth as he continued to glare at them.

“So...”

“I don’t know alright!” he snapped. “I just do......he’s my rival, ok. I’m allowed to assess my rival.”

It irritated him even more as Tetsu and Satsuki shared a knowing look.

“Aomine-kun......do you feel anything weird when you ‘assess’ Kagami-kun?” Tetsu asked hesitantly.

“Weird how?” Daiki asked, irritated that this subject had yet to be dropped.

“Like say a funny feeling in your stomach,” Satsuki suggested.

Daiki’s anger faded for a brief second as he recalled their New Year’s shrine visit.

“Ah, yeah, I’ve had that before,” he admitted. “But what does that have to do with it?”

The two in front of him glanced at each other one more time before they nodded and looked back at him.

“Aomine-kun, I think you may have a crush on him but you just don’t realize it,” Tetsu said softly.

“Tetsu please, as if I wouldn’t notice something like that,” Daiki growled, deciding that he’d had enough of this.

“Dai-chan wait,” Satsuki said grabbing hold of his arm and preventing him from getting out of his seat. “What do you feel when you think about kissing Kagamin.”

_Kissing Kagami...._

“W...what?” Daiki stuttered in shock. “I’ve never...”

_It’d be soft...probably..._

“I don’t want to think about something so disgusting!” Daiki said as forcibly as he could without shouting and gaining the attention of the entire store; his patience wearing thin. “I don’t like him!”

After a moment of silence between the three of them and Daiki trying to burn holes into his friends with his glare the two finally retreated, letting the matter drop.

“I’m sorry Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said with honesty in his voice. “I apologise for up-setting you.”

“It’s........fine,” Daiki stumbled a bit taken back by their sudden disinterest; these two weren’t known for letting go of gossip. “Just...don’t ever bring it up again.”

Tetsu nodded; a blank expression on his face, “I promise.”

Sighing, Daiki went back to glaring out the window, glad that the ridicules topic had now finally been dropped.

**____________________________**

The topic however seemed to float into his mind every now and then on his way home, which he had to mentally beat back out. There was no fucking way he had the hots for some guy who was an oversized basketball idiot. The very idea of it sent shivers down his spine and made his stomach churn. Those were clearly not signs of...blah...he couldn’t even say it...

He’d have to go home tonight and bleach his mind out with some good sexy Mai-chan.

 

January 9th:

Daiki dribbled the ball for a bit and then took a shot at goals; the orange orb swishing through the net effortlessly. Today they were inside at a public basketball gym, since it was snowing heavily outside. Thankfully it wasn’t too busy though; meaning that they’d been able to claim a court down the end for themselves. Midorima and Takao where busy passing and shooting at the court’s other hoop while Tetsu ran to retrieve the ball that Daiki had just shot.

“Oi, where the fuck are Kagami and Kise?” Daiki asked as his friend brought the ball back for him.

“Kise-kun has a modelling shoot near Kagami-kun’s place today so they’re coming together,” Tetsu informed him, handing the ball over. “Maybe Kise-kun’s shoot ran a bit late?”

Daiki clicked his tongue in irritation.

They’d agreed to play three on three today but they were meant to start about half an hour ago. To be fair he himself had been about fifteen minutes late, but it pissed him off that Kagami still wasn’t here yet. He needed someone other than Tetsu to warm up with.

As he took another shot at goals, the sound of giggling girls reached his ears.

Interested, he turned around to scan the gym and found a large group of them walking towards their court. Daiki noticed straight away that these girls were above average; in looks and in height. Not so much in the boob department, but each one of them would easily be able to pass off as a model.

In the middle of this group though, reaching about a head above them and what all the girls seemed to be interested in, were Kise and Kagami.

Half of the girls were surrounding and latching onto Kise which, Daiki had to admit, was to be expected; the other ones however, were swooning around Kagami as if he were a fucking god or something.

That pissed Daiki off.

It was just Kagami, nothing for them to get excited about.

“It seems Kise-kun has brought some of his friends today,” Tetsu said, suddenly appearing next to him.

Daiki jumped slightly and then glared at his old shadow.

“Yes, I can see that,” he muttered in irritation.

Spotting the ball in Tetsu’s hands he instantly snatched it away and, without thinking, ditched it at Kagami’s head. The girls screamed and scattered away from him; the way they normally would if they saw a bug or something gross.

Ha, that had gotten rid of them.

Kagami however was unfazed and caught the ball with ease.

Damn.

“You’re late Baka,” Daiki announced as his irritation grew.

“This coming from the guy who’s never on time for anything,” Kagami retorted with a smirk as he walked over to them.

Daiki just glared as Kagami and Tetsu greeted each other.

Midorima and Takao, seeming to have realised that everyone had finally arrived, also made their way over to the group. They then began discussing what teams everyone would be on as Kise rejoined them; after having calmed all the girls down and escorted them to the bench area.

“Aominecchi,” he whined, “that was dangerous! You could have hit someone.”

“I was aiming at the idiot so it was only ever going to hit him,” Daiki said as though it was obvious.

“What if he hadn’t caught it though?” Midorima asked as he adjusted his glasses.

“Yeah that’s right Aominecchi.”

“Guys it’s alright,” Kagami cut in, “Aomine’s throws aren’t that hard anyway.”

“What did you just say?” Daiki asked rounding on Kagami; anger burning just below the surface.

“I said your throws are soft Aho,” Kagami smirked.

“They are not!” he snapped.

“Well, compared to Kuroko’s they are,” Kagami shrugged.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Tetsu interrupted. “Let’s draw lots and start playing.”

Everyone agreed and headed over to the benches. Well almost everyone; Daiki just glared at Kagami. He’d show him that his passes weren’t weak!

**____________________________**

Daiki stormed over to the bench and snatched up his water bottle as they finished their first match. He was irritated and more tired than he should have been, plus his shoulder was starting to hurt from all the passing that he’d been doing. Even though he’d been putting all of his strength behind his passes Kagami had still managed to catch every single one of them without a hint of difficulty.

Fuck, that really pissed him off.

“What are you so cranky about?” Kagami asked bumping shoulders with him as he reached down for his own water bottle. “We won.”

Daiki grinded his teeth and glared at the gym floor, ignoring the idiot.

“I think we only won because the other team wasn’t expecting Aomine-kun to pass so much,” Tetsu stated as he appeared out of thin air to grab his water bottle as well. “It was nice to see you being a team player Aomine-kun but please remember to take shots at goal as well. My shots still aren’t that accurate.”

“I know, alright,” Daiki snapped, glaring at Tetsu to see if he was picking a fight with him.

Tetsu just raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything more.

“Ah, Kagami-san,” came a small voice. “Here’s a towel for you.”

Daiki looked over to see that one of the girls from earlier, who had been plastered to Kagami when he’d walked in, was offering the red head a face towel for his sweat.

“Thanks,” Kagami said smiling down at the girl and taking the towel from her.

The girl very clearly blushed, then ran to go and sit back down with her friends who all started giggling upon her return.

Daiki felt as though a vein popped.

“Ha, no towel for us?” he asked sarcastically, with venom in his voice; to no one in particular.

“Well they probably didn’t notice me,” Tetsu said pulling his own towel out of his bag, “and they probably don’t like you very much. You did ditch a ball at them remember.”

“I was aiming for Bakagami,” Daiki said defensively, as Tetsu started wiping his face.

Light blue eyes just stared at him from over the folds of the towel until Daiki awkwardly looked away.

“Alright, let’s draw lots again and start the second game,” Kise called amongst the silence.

**____________________________**

They continued to play until closing time, some of the girls choosing to leave throughout the afternoon.

_Good riddance_ , Daiki had thought as they left.

For the rest of their games Daiki wasn’t put on anymore teams with Kagami, which he thought was for the best as it seemed to have helped him calm down and play properly. He had to admit that it was fun playing against the red head. The other boy was so determined to the point that Daiki couldn’t afford to let his guard down; and that excited him.

As he packed up his things, his good mood back in place, Kise came skipping over to them with a huge grin on his face.

“Hee-hee, looks like Kagamicchi scored,” he whispered in excitement.

Everyone froze and stared at the blond in disbelief.

_Kagami had what....?_

As Kise’s words finally sunk in Daiki whipped his head around to find the red head; who was currently surrounded by the remaining girls at the end of the court, exchanging phone numbers.

Wait...what?

Kagami isn’t good with girl’s, right? He remembered that Satsuki had said that the idiot didn’t know how to talk to girls. So why the fuck was Kagami...exchanging numbers...with these girls? His brain seemed to be short circuiting as he felt his heart start beating against his chest.

More importantly, why did it upset him so much? He felt like he was losing to Kagami in some way. Was that the best way to describe it? It was jealousy, right? He was just feeling jealous that Kagami was getting all of the attention right?

As Kagami smiled at them though, Daiki felt his stomach churn and his chest tighten as he sucked in a breath through his teeth. The girls smiled back at him and even touched his arms lightly; causing Daiki’s hands to turn into clenched fists as he bit down on the inside of his lip.

This wasn’t normal right? His body shouldn’t be acting up like this.

...

_How long have you had a crush on Kagami-kun for?_ Tetsu’s words echoed in his head.

_..._

_..._

_...no..._

_...fuck, no..._

_..._

“See, what did I tell ya?” Kise almost squealed in hushed tones.

Daiki slowly turned back around to find that while Midorima and Takao were gauging the scene before them with disbelief, Tetsu had fixed his light blue eyes on him. As soon as their eyes met, Daiki looked away, afraid that he might read something he didn’t want to from his friend’s expression.

He didn’t have a crush on Kagami, he was just jealous and that was that.

_Right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my first chapter ^_^ I hope you enjoyed it and I would love to know what you thought about it :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone  
> As promised here is my second chapter :)  
> I hope you all enjoy it ^_^

January 10th:

Daiki lay awake staring at his bedroom ceiling as he tried to calm his brain down and get some sleep. Since yesterday he’d been in an almost permanent panic state, feeling constantly confused and agitated as he thought about Kagami.

Tetsu had kept his promise and not said anything, but having his old shadow burn his gaze into him for the remainder of yesterday evening had been just as bad.

Sighing he’d tried to do what he did best; ignore the problem and hope that it would eventually go away.

It didn’t.

He really needed to talk to someone about this.

The only problem was that he didn’t have many options. Tetsu and Satsuki were a no go since they seemed to believe that it was obvious he should be feeling this way. Kise was someone who couldn’t keep his mouth shut about anything so there was no way he was going to risk confiding in him. He’d tried calling Midorima who was likely to be far more reasonable but the stupid moss head wouldn’t even answer any of his calls. There was no way he would call Akashi, shit no, and Murasakibara wouldn’t be of any help at all. He could always try his current team mates but that idea had been shut down before it could barely even take form.

Groaning, he realised he’d probably have to ask his mum.

 

January 15th

Aomine Umiko was happily lounging on the living room sofa with a book in her hands, while the afternoon sun seeped in through the large lounge room window. As she turned a page over she noticed her son awkwardly poke his head around the corner of the open door, and seeing the way he hesitated, she knew instantly that something was bothering him.

“What’s the matter Daiki?” Umiko asked putting her book down and giving him her full attention.

Daiki looked everywhere around the room but at her as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

“Um.....you’re busy.....I’ll come back later.....”

“Nonsense,” she said before her son had a chance to run away. “What did you want to ask?”

There was a moment of silence as Daiki seemed to be contemplating whether this had been a good idea or not.

“Can..............can I talk to you about something?”

_Oh dear,_ Umiko thought; the last time he’d wanted to ‘talk about something’ was back when he was in middle school and he’d been having problems with basketball. She didn’t feel as though she had been much help to him then and it was still upsetting for her to think about it, even to this day. Not being able to counsel your children when they needed it was, in a way, failing as a parent, right?

Taking in a deep breath Umiko swatted away those memories; she couldn’t let them get to her now.

“Of course sweetie,” she said patting the couch space next to her. “Take a seat.”

Daiki hesitated at first, but then moved to sit next to her. As he sat down Umiko was reminded once again of how much bigger he was to her. Daiki definitely inherited his height and darker skin from his father but his elegant features and navy hair he’d gained from her.

“So what did you want to talk about?” she asked gently; hoping that it wasn’t another basketball problem.

Umiko watched as Daiki bit the bottom of his lip while burning his gaze into the coffee table in front to them. Yeah, this was going to be a tough one. Her son only ever became like this when something serious was eating away at him.

“I.....how.....” he began but then faltered.

Umiko bit her tongue as she knew that pestering her son would only make him clamp up more. So they sat in silence for a while as Daiki seemed to be sorting through his thoughts.

Eventually he took in a deep breath and turned to look at her, a determined expression on his face.

“How did you know that you liked dad?”

Umiko blinked at her son as he stared back at her. It wasn’t a......no....it definitely wasn’t a basketball problem. Her son wanted to know how she knew that she had liked.......

It was like a switched had been flipped and Umiko had to stop herself from jumping around the room in joy.

Her son had a crush on someone!

Keeping her composure she answered his question.

“How did I know? Well I guess there was a bunch of things,” she said tapping her chin as she thought about it. “He caught my attention straight away because of his dark skin. Not to mention how tall he is. But I think I knew that I liked him when I realised how much happier I was when I was with him.”

Daiki looked down at his hands as he appeared to be thinking hard about her response. She wondered if that was the answer that he’d wanted to hear.

“You know Daiki,” she began tentatively; “I’ve noticed that you’ve been a lot happier lately.....do you....... have someone that you like?”

Her son practically jumped back from her, a shocked expression adorning his features.

Oh fiddlesticks, she’d been too forward.

“I..........” he began, edging away from her with his face starting to colour like that of a tomato, “..............fuck......no....I mean...................I don’t know.........”

The last part came out almost as a whisper.

“That’s ok,” she said in a soothing tone; choosing not to reprimand him for his cursing. “So you’re still trying to figure out if you like this person, right?”

Daiki looked at her, his blush heavy on his face, before he slowly nodded.

“That’s ok. Nothing wrong with that.” she said warmly to him. “We can take this slow.”

Her son cautiously regained his sitting position.

“So how.......no...what......do I do?” Daiki asked rubbing his hands nervously; a trait that he’d had since he was a kid. “I don’t quite get what I’m feeling.....”

“Well....how about you tell me what made you first realised that you _might_ have feelings for this person,” Umiko offered gently.

“I didn’t,” her son grumbled, his face darkening into a scowl, “frigging Tetsu and Satsuki had to go and bring it up.”

“Ah, so you’re not sure whether they’re right or just imagining things.”

Daiki bit the bottom of his lip again as he nodded.

“Well, how do you react when you see this girl?” Umiko asked.

Her son bowed his head into his hands and ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a shaky sigh.

“When I see........them........I kinda stare at them.....just a bit though......like only for a second.....well.....ok, maybe more than a second.....and.....sometimes my stomach churns.....making me feel sick......”

“Does it feel as though you have butterflies in your stomach?”

“Butterflies?” Daiki asked leaning his head to one side in confusion.

“You know how butterflies flutter when they fly,” she said indicating the motion with her hands, “that sort of up and down feeling, is that what you mean by churn?”

Daiki’s cheeks flushed again as he looked away from her; muttering a soft ‘maybe’. Umiko smiled softly at her son’s shyness; she didn’t get to see him like this very often anymore.

“Well that indicates nervousness,” she said.

“But I’m not nervous,” Daiki stated, “I have no reason to be nervous. I’m not scared of them.”

“Ah.....well....nerves aren’t just about fear, Dai sweetie,” Umiko said softly, “sometimes it could be that you want them to notice you or that you want them to like you. Take me for example, I use to always get butterflies in my tummy when your father was around because I wanted to make a good impression on him and I wanted him to think highly of me.”

Daiki sat in silence for a while before responding to her.

“What about..........when they’re talking to other people,” he almost whispered, “I get annoyed when people pay attention to them and not to me.....”

“Mmmm.....well.....that might be the wrong way around....” she said awkwardly.

Daiki blinked at her and she sighed.

“It’s probably more likely that you’re getting annoyed because she’s paying attention to other people and not to you; or you could be annoyed that other people have started to notice her as well and you might be feeling a bit..........jealous.”

Umiko watched as Daiki bit his bottom lip again; more viciously this time. He seemed to be getting more agitated.

“Daiki sweetie...... can I ask you something.....”

His dark blue eyes turned to her and she could see worry and doubt circling through them.

“You seem as though you really don’t want to have feelings for this girl,” she continued. “Can I ask why?”

Umiko saw panic flash across her sons face before he turned away.

_Oh dear._

“Does she already have a boyfriend?” she asked.

“What.... no.....no, they’re single,” he said hastily, “.....they’re a friend of Tetsu’s and well.....I never really thought about them in that way before..........and now if I like them..........it just kind of ruins everything.....”

“Why’s that?” she queried.

“Because......argh!” Daiki groaned into his hands.

“Listen sweetie, it’s not like you have to tell them that you like them,” Umiko offered. “Your father and I were friends for a couple of years before I confessed my feelings to him. There’s nothing wrong with having feelings for someone.”

“No it’s just....it’s just that....they’re.....they’re a.....”

At that moment her husband walked into the living room and the area fell quiet.

“Sorry........did I interrupt something?” he asked; newspaper in hand.

“Nope, we’re all done,” Daiki said instantly springing up from his seat and rushing out of the room.

They both watched their son retreat up the stairs to his bedroom before looking back at one another; her husband giving her a questioning look. She sighed as she stood up to walk over to him and give him a tight hug around the middle.

“It seems that our son has started to notice his feelings,” she said with a soft smile. “Things might be a bit interesting around here for a while.”

Umiko felt the deep rumble of a laugh from her husband making her feel all warm inside.

She hoped Daiki found someone who made him feel that way too.

**____________________________**

Daiki hadn’t been able to tell his mum. It.....it was just too embarrassing, saying that he might have a crush on a guy, plus he had no clue as to how she’d even respond to the very idea of it. She’d seemed pretty convinced that his problem was revolving around a girl and he just didn’t know how to correct her. If he told her, would she disown him? He’d heard that some parents did that when their kids....you know.....told them that stuff.

_Shit, this talk hadn’t made anything better._

Well....it made him realise that fuck.....he might actually have the hots for Kagami, and also how absolutely fucked he was if he did.

Groaning to himself he flopped down on his bed; defeated for the day.

 

January 29th

Daiki ran towards the basketball net in front of him as he dribbled the ball at his side. He then side-stepped slightly and let it fly from his finger tips, watching it arch in the air for a moment before it swished through the net.

Today he’d decided to shoot some hoops to try and take his mind off his ever-growing Kagami problem; a problem that had consumed his thoughts for the past few weeks, to the point that it would almost catch him un-aware at times.

He’d be doing something mundane like reading a basketball magazine, or watching a game on TV and thoughts of Kagami would come waltzing into his head. As annoying as these were though they weren’t the worst ones, because connecting basketball with Kagami was normal. No, the worst ones were the ones that he seemed to get while he was at school. Where he’d see other people smiling and laughing and instantly be reminded of all the times he’d seen the red head do that to other people. He’d then find himself wishing that Kagami would smile and laugh at him like that and those were the thoughts that scared Daiki the most.

Grumbling to himself, he realised that his mind was heading down that path again as he went to retrieve his basketball. Seriously, how could one basketball idiot take up so much of his thinking capacity?

Sighing, he began to dribble up towards the other goal and take another wild shot at the hoop; the ball connecting with the middle of the net effortlessly.

“HEY! AOMINE!”

Daiki froze as he landed; he was sure that he recognized that voice.

No, it can’t be. Please don’t let it be him. Of all the people, why him?

Turning slowly he confirm his suspicions with a soft groan as he laid eyes on Kagami who was running along the fence towards the gate; his own basketball in hand.

How in all of Tokyo had that idiot found him?

Watching the red head run through the gate Daiki felt his stomach do that funny thing that made him feel sick. What had his mum called it again? Butterflies in his tummy....or something? As Kagami jogged onto the court though, a little grin on his face, Daiki felt the feeling from his stomach move upwards to constrict his chest.

Fuck.

This wasn’t good.

“Yo! I thought it was you,” Kagami said as he stopped in front of him. “Not many people can make a shot like that.”

Damn it, he needed to speak, but his chest felt so tight. Why was it so difficult to breath?

Kagami tilted his head slightly in the silence.

“Hey Aomine, are you alright?”

Speak damn it, brain, work.....

“What are you doing here Bakagami?”

No, that had sounded too aggressive. Why had he said that?

Kagami didn’t seem too fazed though as a small laugh escaped his lips making Daiki’s breath hitch.

“Isn’t that meant to be my question Aho? I happen to live around here. You, on the other hand, live somewhere on the other side of town.”

Daiki felt his cheeks burn slightly.

“All.....all the courts were full around my place,” he grumbled as he turned away from the red head so that he could go and grab his abandoned ball.

“And let me guess,” Kagami said as he started to spin his own basketball on his index finger. “You don’t play nice with others.”

“More like, if they find out I’m one of the Generation of Miracles then they don’t wanna play,” Daiki huffed as he picked up his ball and rested it on his hip.

“Eh, well their loss,” the red head smiled. “Come on, let’s play. I’ll take you on.”

Daiki felt his heart start beating painfully against his chest as Kagami directed his first proper smile at him; no one else, just him.

“S...sure...” he stuttered slightly.

Fuck.

He was so fucked.

**____________________________**

 “Ah, man!” Kagami said as he collapsed on the court in exhaustion, “I almost beat you today.”

“Ha! Yeah right,” Daiki puffed as he too found himself needing the ground for support. “You weren’t even close.”

“Aho, I only lost by five points,” the red head said sitting up slightly.

“Yeah, well, you cheated.”

“How the fuck did I cheat?”

_With that stupid grin of yours,_ Daiki mentally grumbled. _Who said that you could wear it for the whole game? I thought my heart was gonna give out._

“You just did,” he pouted slightly.

Kagami just rolled his eyes at him.

**____________________________**

Daiki lifted his basketball bag onto his shoulder as he followed Kagami out of the court, the sun already getting low in the sky.

“Well, I better head home,” Kagami said as he tucked his basketball under his arm.

Daiki nodded as he chewed on the inside of his lip; the butterflies in his stomach returning. He was more than ready to head home too.

“See ya then,” he said turning around and heading in the opposite direction to where he knew the red head was going.

Today had been a big emotional rollercoaster for him and all he really wanted to do now was lie down and not think about anything at all for the rest of the day. He was completely over thinking at this point. Not to mention that if he kept putting his mind to it Daiki was well aware that he was going to eventually have to admit that he might actually have feelings for Kagami, and that was definitely not something he wanted to discover while in the red head’s presence.

“Hey Aomine.”

Daiki cringed slightly as he stopped.

Fuck, had he forgotten something?

Turning back to look at the red head; a much greater distance between them now, he saw a wide smile on the other boy’s face that made Daiki’s heart race wildly against his chest.

“Today was fun,” Kagami called, “Let’s play again soon.”

Daiki felt like his insides were melting as he took in the image of Kagami smiling openly at him, the setting sun giving the boy a warm glow to match his expression.

It was in that moment that Daiki knew he couldn’t deny what he was feeling anymore. There was no way he could continue to try and hide it from himself.

“Okay,” he managed to call back with a voice stronger than he thought he could produce at that moment.

He then watched as Kagami stretched his smile even wider while giving a small wave before turning and heading off further down the path.

_Fuck. I’m so fucked!_ Daiki internally screamed as he felt his cheeks burn. _I have a crush on Kagami._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay thank you for reading my second chapter.  
> I hope you enjoyed Daiki admitting his feelings ^_^ Also let me know what you thought of Umiko :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off I'd like to say, Happy Birthday Kuroko, you adorable little shadow, you ^_^
> 
> But yeah, sorry that this chapter took a bit longer than the last one >.>
> 
> This chapter is based around episode 75.5  
> Please re-watch the episode if you get lost at any point :D
> 
> Enjoy!

January 31st

“Hee-hee! Dai-chan, I’m so happy for you,” Satsuki giggled for the umpteenth time.

“I don’t know why,” he sighed as they walked along the path towards the basketball court. “It’s not like I’ve never liked someone before.”

“Yes but this is the first time that you’ve admitted it,” she said joyfully.

Daiki grumbled slightly as he kicked at the ground while they walked.

Today his old basketball teammates from Teikou had all agreed to celebrate Tetsu’s birthday by catching up and playing a few games of street ball. As excited as he was for the event though the idea of telling Tetsu later today that he had been right was unsettling his stomach.

Daiki had never been someone to admit that he was wrong.

“Eee, I can’t wait to tell Tetsu-kun,” Satsuki squealed, breaking though Daiki’s thoughts and halting him in his tracks.

“Don’t you dare.”

“Eh, but Dai-chan–”

“I’m serious Satsuki.....I....I wanna tell Tetsu myself.”

As Satsuki’s face lit up Daiki felt a heavy blush settle on his cheeks.

“Oh my gosh, Dai-chan,” she gasped, “you’re growing up.”

Daiki mumbled a soft ‘shut up’ as he toed the ground.

“I promise I won’t tell Tetsu-kun,” she said happily.

“And you can’t tell anyone else either!” he stated. “I only want you and Tetsu to know about it and that’s it.”

“Dai-chan–” Satsuki began with a soft grin on her lips.

“This isn’t a joke Satsuki,” he said with all firmness. “You can’t tell anyone, no one at Touou, no one from Seirin and none of the Generation of Miracles; especially not Kise. He’s a worse gossiper than you are. Just.....just to be safe, don’t tell anyone else in the world.”

Satsuki pouted slightly.

“Dai-chan you’re over reacting.”

“I am not,” he huffed. “I just don’t want _him_ finding out......well.....at least.....not from somebody else....”

This caused Satsuki to giggle and smile at him.

“Okay Dai-chan, I promise. I’ll keep your secret.”

“You better,” he grumbled as they started heading towards the basketball court once again.

**____________________________**

The basketball gathering had been great and as it came to an end Daiki couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. It had felt amazing to play with his old teammates again.

“Hey everyone, let’s go and celebrate Kurokocchi’s birthday some more,” Kise piped up. “How about karaoke?”

“Ah, sorry, but Kagami-kun is already hosting a party for me this evening,” Tetsu interjected, “and I’d hate to miss it.”

“Oh....”Kise said, deflating like a balloon.

“Although, I’m sure that Kagami-kun wouldn’t mind if you joined us,” the light blue haired boy added, glancing at each of them. “I believe that everyone would be more than welcome to attend.”

_A party at Kagami’s place....._

“I’ll come Kurokocchi,” Kise squealed; the first to respond.

“Dai-chan and I will come too, Tetsu-kun.”

“O...oi, don’t go putting my say in,” Daiki said, feeling his stomach flip.

Although, when everyone else agreed that they’d also like to attend, he didn’t feel the need argue too much.

“Shall we all head there together?” Akashi asked with a pleasant smile.

“Eeek, now?” Satsuki squeaked.

“Is there a problem Momoi?”

Satsuki nodded, a horrified look on her face. “I can’t attend a party dressed like this.”

All the boys in the group looked down at their sports gear; finally remembering that they had been sweating for a couple of hours in their clothes.

“I agree with Momoi,” Midorima stated adjusting his glasses. “It would be unsightly of us to attend the way we are dressed now.”

Everyone finally agreed that they would head home and change first, before meeting up at the station that was apparently near Kagami’s place.

“Alright, I’ll see you all soon,” Kise called back as their group disbanded and everyone headed home to get ready for the party.

**____________________________**

Daiki walked along a path that led back home, with Tetsu and Satsuki chatting away at his side. He could feel a nervousness pooling in the pit of his stomach as he realised that this would be a good time to tell Tetsu the truth.

He slowed down, causing the other two to stop and look at him.

“Hey, um Tetsu....” he mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

“Yes Aomine-kun?”

Daiki swallowed hard when he caught Satsuki’s gleeful look. Damn observant girl knew exactly what he was about to do.

“I....um......just wanted to say.....”

Expectant light blue eyes gazed into his, causing Daiki to squash his defiant pride from surfacing. Otherwise they’d probably spend all night just standing there.

“You...........you were right Tetsu,” he hurriedly finished before he could argue with himself about it anymore.

“About what, Aomine-kun?”

Daiki glared down at his old shadow who, in turn, gazed back patiently. He could recognize the boy’s masked expression any day and could see that Tetsu knew exactly what he was talking about, but no, the bastard wanted him to say it out loud.

Inwardly groaning to himself and checking that absolutely no one else was around at that moment he fought to push the next few words off his tongue.

“I......I like......Kagami......”

Daiki watched as Tetsu’s face relaxed and a warm smile slipped onto it.

“Thank you Aomine-kun. That was a great birthday present.”

“Wh......what?” Daiki spluttered as Satsuki finally broke her silence and fell into a giggle fit. “No.....I have an actual present for you at home.....I just forgot to bring it....”

“It was a joke Aomine-kun,” Tetsu smiled, “but yes. Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re welcome,” Daiki grumbled, pulling his water bottle out to wet his dry lips as they resumed walking once again.

“So when are you going to ask him out?” Satsuki asked with excitement.

Daiki coughed.........choked? Whichever one it was, he was currently suffering from it.

“What the fuck Satsuki,” he growled, wiping the spilled water from his chin. “I’m not asking him out.”

“What, why not?” she asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Because..........we’d have to hold hands and kiss and......stuff.....” he fumbled, as ideas of them doing such things zoomed through Daiki’s mind.

Satsuki just giggled at him once again.

“Aomine-kun, your face is red,” Tetsu stated which only caused the pink haired girl to laugh harder.

“Sh....shut up!”

As they continued their way home, his whole body feeling like it was on fire, he vaguely wondered why he even had friends like these.

**____________________________**

Daiki took in a deep breath as Akashi rang the doorbell to a fancy-looking apartment.

He was currently wearing the best clothes that he could find in his wardrobe, since there was no way he’d show up in his usual baggy basketball clothes, not a chance. These clothes hugged his body more, showing off his lean figure.

Was he trying to catch Kagami’s attention?

Yeah, maybe a little.

Although he’d never actually admit that to anyone, and he’d outright denied it when Tetsu and Satsuki had asked about his attire.

As he heard footsteps approaching from inside the house Daiki clenched his fists, his nerves setting in.

“You must be tired,” a voice called as the front door swung open and revealed one of Serin’s team members.

Daiki felt his body relax slightly as he realized that it wasn’t Kagami.

“Hello, you’re Furihata-kun, aren’t you?” Akashi asked in one of his more pleasant tones.

“A......Akashi?” the brown haired boy stuttered, appearing to freeze up on the spot.

Daiki was pretty sure that he could see the boy’s legs actually shake.

“Since everybody was here, I brought them over as well,” Tetsu explained to his petrified teammate.

This, however, appeared to be too much for the boy as he let out a high pitched wail before seeming to faint in the doorway.

“Oh dear,” Akashi sighed, looking slightly concerned, “Murasakibara, would you be able to pick him up?”

The purple haired giant nodded and moved forward, picking up the unconscious boy, as everyone else then followed inside. Daiki took in a deep breath as he heard voices and laughter echo down the hallway.

_Alright, just act normal and everything will be fine._

**____________________________**

Well Daiki had definitely succeeded in acting like his usual self, as he’d already had Kagami and Satsuki yell at him for searching for the red head’s porn stash. Then when he’d tried to search the rest of the apartment too, Kuroko had caught him and given him one of those awful jabs to the side that he was so skilled at; putting an end to Daiki’s nosey behaviour.

After being forced back into the crowed living room, he spent most of the time playing with Tetsu’s dog, Nigou. This was mainly because whenever he went near Kagami his stomach would flip and sometimes do a couple of shimmies.

He wasn’t entirely sure how to converse with the red head and standing there, not saying anything, while his insides betrayed him, looked stupid. So he’d decided that it’d just be safer to avoid the other boy until he could get his body under control.

“Alright everyone, come and grab some food,” Serin’s flat chested coach called.

As everyone came and sat down around the low table, Daiki made sure that he got a spot next to Tetsu. He, however, didn’t count on Kagami sitting down next to him, making Daiki’s stomach tumble once again.

“Oi, why are you sitting next to me?” he demanded.

There was no way he was going to be able to eat anything with the damned red head sitting so close to him.

“Huh?” Kagami grunted, looking at him. “I’m sitting here ‘cause this is where the karaage chicken is.”

Daiki could only scowl slightly as those intense red eyes left him.

Fuck.

His chest was way too tight from just having Kagami look at him.

How the heck was he going to last the remainder of the evening?

_Its fine, just focus on the food,_ he thought as he grabbed a plate and some chopsticks, silently praying that his stomach would remain stable.

Spying the karaage chicken that the red head had mentioned Daiki felt his mouth drool. It looked amazing. Quickly piling up his plate, he noticed that Kagami was mimicking him.

“Heh, your eyes are bigger than you stomach,” Daiki commented before he could stop himself.

The red head paused and turned to look at him with challenging red orbs.

“What are you saying exactly?” Kagami asked slowly.

“I’m saying that you’re never going to finish all that,” Daiki stated.

“I’m pretty sure that I can eat more than you.”

“Ha, no way,” Daiki grinned, he knew how big his own appetite was.

“You wanna bet?”

“Yeah alright,” he smirked, “loser has to buy the other Maji.”

“Sounds fair to me.”

“I won’t lose to you,” Daiki said as he started to stuff the chicken into his mouth.

“Bring it on,” Kagami challenged, copying his movements.

_Heh, this is going to be easy._

**____________________________**

Daiki had never been so wrong in his life.

He was currently lying on the floorboards, feeling like he was going to be sick, while Kagami continued to munch through more karaage.

“How the fuck are you still eating?” Daiki moaned.

“That would be because Kagami-kun’s stomach is a black hole,” Tetsu put in, having observed their food battle.

“You could have told me sooner,” he groaned as he sat back up, cradling his over filled stomach. “I fucking went and a made a bet with him.”

A grin crawled onto the red head’s face but he continued eating.

“For fucks sake, just stop already,” Daiki demanded. “You’ve already won.”

“Huh, I know that,” Kagami said, looking at him as he stuffed more chicken into his mouth. “I’m eating ‘cause I’m still hungry.”

Daiki felt like he was going to be ill and for the first time in a while it wasn’t because of his stupid emotions. His stomach had thankfully stopped doing its back flips once he’d started eating.

“Hey Taiga, don’t forget that there’s still dessert,” a boy with a sweeping side fringe called.

As Kagami turned to look at the other boy Daiki felt a small twinge of irritation hit him. Wasn’t that guy from Murasakibara’s team? Why was he calling Kagami by his first name? Were they really that close?

“Hey Tetsu,” he mumbled as he watched the two boys speak with one another, “who’s the guy next to Murasakibara?”

Light blue eyes looked at him and then further down the table.

“That’s Himuro Tatsuya. He’s Kagami-kun’s brother.”

“Brother?” Daiki said raising an eyebrow as he took another look at the raven haired boy. “Really? They don’t look much alike.....”

“They’re not biologically related,” Tetsu confirmed. “Apparently it’s a very similar relationship to what you and Momoi-san have. Kagami-kun and Himuro-kun grew up together over in America.”

_That’s right, Tetsu had mentioned that Kagami once lived in America._

“Oh,” Daiki managed to say as he breathed out a small sigh of relief.

“Don’t worry Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said, the corners of his lips turning upwards slightly, “I don’t think Himuro-kun has the same intentions as you do.”

“And what intentions are those Tetsu?” Daiki asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

His old shadow leaned forward slightly so that his breath could brush next to Daiki’s ear as his next few words came out in a whisper.

“To date Kagami-kun.”

Daiki felt his breath catch as his eyes quickly darted around the room to make sure that no one else had heard. No one had, of course, their own conversations to noisy to hear such a small whisper, but Daiki still felt as though Tetsu had let his secret slip to the whole world.

“Tetsu,” he growled in a low voice. “Don’t let anyone here you say that.”

“So it’s true then?”

“What is?”

“That you have intentions to date–”

“Don’t say it,” Daiki cut in, silencing his old shadow by covering his mouth.

A couple of Serin’s players glanced over at them, but quickly adverted their gazes as Daiki presented them with his famous death glare. He then turned back to his old shadow who gave him a hurt look before his shoulders slumped slightly with a sigh, making Daiki cautiously remove his hand.

“Alright, I won’t say it,” Tetsu said, “but you haven’t denied it, so I’m assuming you do have intentions.”

Daiki clenched his jaw before sneaking a quick glance back at Kagami, the red head laughing at something the emo looking boy had said. He felt his chest tighten as he watched.

Letting out a small sigh, he returned to Tetsu to see that the boy was still waiting for his answer.

“I......don’t know.....” he mumbled as he scratched the back of his neck slightly. “I mean.....yeah....it would be nice but......”

“But what?”

Daiki groaned and checked around the room again for people listening in on their conversation.

“Well I don’t really know if he even........you know......”

Daiki awkwardly gestured towards himself causing Tetsu to raise an eyebrow.

“You know..............likes this gender.........”

“I could ask him if you want?”

“No!” Daiki said a little too loudly, causing a couple of heads to turn in their direction.

Fuck, this really wasn’t a topic that they should be talking about with so many people around.

“Listen Tetsu,” he sighed as everyone renewed their own conversations, “I don’t want him finding out, so you can’t go asking him questions like that. It’ll make him suspicious and.......well, he might figure it out......if.............if he’s going to find out......then......well.......I’d rather it be from me.”

“You honestly give Kagami-kun way too much credit,” his old shadow stated with his signature blank expression, “he’s not that quick to grasp people’s intentions.”

Daiki still didn’t want to take the risk.

“However if that is your decision then I will respect it, Aomine-kun.”

“Thanks,” he sighed, realising that these feelings were far more stressful than he first thought.

How was he meant to tell Kagami anyway?

**____________________________**

The rest of the evening went by fairly smoothly. Daiki had discovered that Kagami was terrified of Tetsu’s dog, so he had chased the red head around the living room with him until cake had been served. Then at the end of the night they had all wished Tetsu a happy birthday by unleashing party poppers upon him.

Daiki was now tying up his laces at the entrance, Satsuki and Tetsu doing the same next to him, as Kagami bid his fellow teammate’s goodnight.

“Thank you once again for celebrating my birthday, Kagami-kun,” Tetsu said as he stood up, causing the red head to jump slightly.

“No problem,” he smiled, making Daiki’s breath catch. “Did you like everything?”

“Yes,” the light blue haired boy nodded, “I especially liked the cake that you made.”

Daiki was getting to his feet when he heard that and froze.

“Wait.....you made the cake?” he dumbly asked, as he tried to picture the red head even trying to boil an egg.

“Kagami-kun made everything tonight,” Tetsu stated.

“Well me and Tatsuya made everything,” Kagami corrected, “but, yeah.”

“What about the karaage?” Daiki asked, still dumb founded at the idea of the red head cooking. “That was brought from the store right? There’s no way you made that.”

“No, I made it,” the boy huffed, “and speaking of food, that reminds me, you owe me Maji.”

Daiki groaned, he had hoped the red head had forgotten about their little bet.

“Dude there’s no way I can keep that bet. One trip to Maji with you would clean me out completely. Can’t you pick something else for me to owe you?”

The red head went silent as his forked brows furrowed together in thought.

“Mmmm......I could do with a new pair of basketball shoes......”

Daiki felt like smacking the boy upside the head.

“I meant something that I can afford! How did you get from food to shoes?”

“Aomine-kun you haven’t seen Kagami-kun’s bill at the end of Maji, shoes might actually be the cheaper options,” Tetsu informed him.

“I don’t care,” he growled, “pick something else.”

Kagami sighed before falling into silence once again, thinking.

“Then.......how about a one-on-one?” the red head asked, looking up to meet his gaze.

Daiki felt his heart flutter slightly.

“Uh......yeah......I can do that,” he fumbled, feeling his cheeks burn, before correcting his behaviour. “I mean, if you can stand losing to me again.”

“Still so sure that you’ll win, huh?” Kagami grinned as he folded his arms in a challenging manner.

“I’ll wipe the floor with you.”

“You’re on.”

“Tomorrow afternoon then?”

“Sure,” the red head smiled with a fiery look in his eyes. “Let’s make it the same court you were at today, since we both know where that one is.”

“Deal!”

Daiki could almost feel his blood boil with excitement as they said their goodbyes and waved farewell to Kagami. As the three of them headed on home Daiki was unable to wipe the smile off his face. Tomorrow he would get to play basketball again and at his full strength too.

He couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argh, thank you sooooo much for reading my chapter 3.  
> I felt like I really struggled with this chapter >.< it was just really difficult for me to follow a plot line that someone else had already constructed.  
> My brain kept wandering down different paths T.T
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you thought :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone,  
> Thank you for waiting :) Here is the next chapter.   
> Sorry that it's not a particularly long one >.> This one is kind of a build up for the next.....>.>.....  
> Anyway I hope you enjoy it :)

February 2nd:

Daiki was currently sitting in a booth at Maji with Tetsu opposite him. His old shadow, who had been interested in how Kagami’s and his one-on-one had gone yesterday, had offered to buy him food after school. Daiki was never one to turn down an offer of free food; unless it happened to be Satsuki who was offering.

As he told Tetsu about their afternoon, though, it was obvious that things could have gone a little better. The games that they had played had been exciting and set Daiki’s body on fire, but whenever they’d stopped for a break he had always ended up saying something that had caused the red head’s face to twist with irritation.

Letting out a heavy sigh Daiki started on another burger, while the two of them sat in silence. He just wasn’t good at acting nice, especially when riling up Kagami was so much fun. Also how did one even go from being rivals to.....well......more than rivals?

Feeling his chest tighten at the thought while he reached for another burger, he noticed Tetsu studying him from across the table.

“What?” he asked, unwrapping his food and sinking his teeth into it.

“I was just wondering, Aomine-kun,” Tetsu began, as he drank his vanilla shake. “What are you going to give Kagami-kun for Valentine’s Day?”

Daiki choked on the burger he had been stuffing into his mouth.

“Tetsu, what the actual fuck,” he growled glancing around the burger joint to make sure that no one was listening in on their conversation. “As if I’m going to give him something.”

“Oh,” Tetsu said raising one eyebrow. “I was under the impression that you wanted to date Kagami-kun.”

Daiki felt his cheeks burn at the very idea.

“You’ll need to confess to do that,” Tetsu pointed out, “and Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity.”

“I...what...no...I’m not confessing,” Daiki fumbled; he knew that he was blushing badly at this point. “I mean I’m not going to be the stupid girl who gets all giddy over giving chocolates to her crush.”

Tetsu blinked at Daiki a couple of times before saying.

“Nothing that came out of your mouth just now made any sense.”

“You...you know what I mean,” Daiki grumbled taking a sip of his drink.

“No, not really,” Tetsu admitted. “You’re not a girl.”

Daiki slumped down onto their table and buried his face in his arms.

“I know, I know, I just......don’t want to be rejected on Valentine’s Day,” Daiki mumbled into the wooden surface.

He just didn’t understand how girls could find the courage to throw it all away on Valentine’s Day. Like, what were the actual chances of them getting a positive response? Maybe for them it was around the halfway mark but for him it was practically zero. He didn’t even know if Kagami liked guys. Tetsu had offered to find out for him but there was no way that Daiki was going to let him do that. If Kagami got even an inkling that Daiki had a crush on him then it was all over.

“I understand,” Tetsu sighed.

Daiki looked up to see his friend with a sad look in his eyes that made him bury his face again. They sat in silence for a while as Daiki tried to return his face to normal.

_Just think about other things, like basketball._

No, not basketball.

Thoughts of basketball always seemed to lead to Kagami.

_Then how about all the homework that I have to do tonight?_

Yeah, that worked.

Groaning, he sat back up and began to finish his meal which seemed to have lost its appeal. It felt like a chore as he shoved it into his mouth.

“Maybe I can get Kagami-kun to give you chocolates?” Tetsu muttered with a thoughtful look on his face.

Daiki choked again and then glared at his friend.

“Tetsu, just drop the subject.” He growled.

Tetsu nodded but Daiki noticed that he still looked as though he was thinking about something.

 

February 8th:

Daiki was in the middle of shooting hoops during practice when Satsuki’s phone rang and she answered it with a very enthusiastic ‘Tetsu-kun’. He continued shooting but kept his ears tuned in on her conversation.

“Huh, the 14th?”

The ball that Daiki had been about to shoot slipped from his hands as he recognized the date.

“Yes I’m free,” Satsuki squealed.

Clearly she’d recognized the date as well.

Damn. Was Tetsu asking her out on a date for Valentine’s Day? For some reason that pissed him off. It was as if Tetsu was flaunting the fact that he could have a date for Valentine’s Day and Daiki couldn’t.

“Ah, yeah he’s here,” Satsuki said looking over at him.

Daiki felt his stomach drop. What was Tetsu scheming?

“Hey Dai-chan,” Satsuki called to him, “are you free on the 14th?”

Clearly the whole gym had been listening in on Satsuki’s conversation as well because his team then broke into hysterical laughter before cat calling and wolf whistling at him. Feeling his cheeks burn, Daiki stormed over to Satsuki and snatched the phone off her.

“Oi Tetsu, what’s the big idea?” he demanded into the receiver.

“Oh, hello Aomine-kun,” Tetsu’s voice sounded. “How are you?”

“Skip the bullshit Tetsu,” Daiki growled. “What do you want?”

“I was just wondering if you were free on the 14th,” Tetsu said unfazed by Daiki’s anger. “Kagami-kun wanted to play some one-on-one with you.”

Daiki froze. The curse that he was about to give in reply stuck in his throat. Kagami wanted to play one-on-one with him? On Valentine’s day?

“Oi Tetsu, you’re not fucking with me.”

“Most certainly not,” Tetsu reassured him. “Kagami mentioned that he wanted to play one-on-one with you and I suggested next Tuesday, which just so happens to be the 14th.”

Daiki turned away from his team and stared very intently at the gym wall as he tried to stop a smile from spreading across his face.

“Although the idiot didn’t seem to realise what day it was,” Tetsu seemed to mutter more to himself then into the phone.

At that, Daiki couldn’t help the grin that tugged at the corner of his mouth. He’d get to play one-on-one with Kagami on Valentine’s Day and the idiot would be none the wiser.

“So are you free?” Tetsu asked again.

“Yeah,” Daiki said trying to keep the happiness out of his voice. “I’m free.”

Then suddenly flashes from his last one-on-one with Kagami flickered through his mind.

“Wait, are you going to come too?” Daiki asked in a panic.

“Yes don’t worry Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said in a reassuring voice. “I’ve invited Momoi-san as well so we’ll be able watch over you two while you play.”

Daiki breathed a sigh of relief as he let go of the sudden panic that had taken hold of him. Thank god. He didn’t know what he’d do if it was just him and Kagami again. Daiki would probably end up saying something stupid that would piss the red head off, resulting in them never speaking to each other ever again.

 Tetsu was a great referee for them.

“Thanks Tetsu,” Daiki muttered.

“No problem,” Tetsu said with a smile in his voice. “Shall I give the details to Momoi-san then?”

Daiki made a sound of agreement and handed Satsuki back her phone, which she took with eagerness. He then went to walk back over to where he’d been shooting; ignoring all the stupid comments his team mates were making at him about having a date for Valentine’s Day. Nothing could bring him down at the moment. He was on cloud nine.

 

February 10th:

Kuroko Tetsuya was changing in the locker room after practice as he tried to figure out how he was going to get Kagami-kun to give chocolates to Aomine-kun. He wondered if Kagami-kun had even noticed it yet that Valentine’s Day was just a couple of days away. The girls in school had definitely been going on about it a lot. Maybe Valentine’s Day was different in America. Did girls give chocolates to boys over there?

At that moment the locker room door opened and Kagami-kun walked in. Now was his chance. There was no one else here.

_You can do it,_ Tetsuya thought pumping himself up.

“Hello Kagami-kun,” Tetsuya said calmly.

The taller boy stopped and jumped backwards slightly.

“Shit Kuroko, didn’t see you there.”

“I’ve been here the whole time,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kagami-kun said waving his hand in the air with an annoyed expression. “What are you still doing here anyway?”

“I was just about to leave,” Tetsuya admitted as Kagami-kun began to strip off his training shirt for his school shirt.

_I bet Aomine-kun would pay through the nose to see this,_ Tetsuya thought, as his team mate then went to remove his sport shorts.

“Wanna head home together then?” Kagami-kun asked while pulling on his school pants.

Tetsuya nodded as he started packing up his belongings. He paused however when he noticed Kagami-kun’s attention being drawn by a group of girls as they walked past their locker room, giggling as they chattered about something; probably Valentine’s Day.

“Hey Kuroko,” Kagami-kun began a bit absentmindedly.

“Yes Kagami-kun?”

“Have you noticed that the girls in our school have been acting a bit weird lately? Like they tend to giggle a lot more than normal?”

“That’s probably because Valentine’s Day is happening soon,” Tetsuya informed him.

“Valentine’s Day...?” Kagami-kun seemed to ask as he turned back around to look at his friend.

Tetsuya kept his blank expression even though worry was beginning to seep into him. Did Kagami-kun seriously not know what Valentine’s Day was? Did they not have Valentine’s Day in America? If not then how was he going to convince him to give chocolates to Aomine-kun? He watched as Kagami-kun’s eyes slid over to the calendar on the locker room wall.

“Oh, you’re right,” he said nodding as he saw the date on the wall. “Guess I should start making...”

He seemed to trail off at the end which made Tetsuya’s worry grow into panic. Did Kagami-kun already have someone that he liked? Was he going to make chocolates for them? What if he cancelled his one-on-one with Aomine now that he had realised when Valentine’s Day was?

“Start making what?” Tetsuya asked as calmly as he could.

“Huh,” Kagami-kun said bringing his attention back to him. “Oh, well when I was back in America I used to make Valentine’s Day chocolates for Alex...and occasionally Tatsuya. Heh, he used to complain that he was being left out.”

“I see,” Tetsuya said, internally sighing with relief.

“But neither of them are here so I guess that I won’t need to make any this year,” Kagami-kun said shrugging.

“I think you should make some,” Tetsuya interrupted; there was no way he was letting this opportunity go.

“Huh, for who?”

“For the team,” Tetsuya suggested.

Kagami-kun paused for a moment as he seemed to contemplate the thought.

“Yeah I suppose I could,” he nodded. “They’re like a second family anyway.”

“And you should make some for Momoi-san and Aomine-kun,” Tetsuya continued seeing how far he could push his luck.

“Huh?” Kagami-kun said. “Why do I need to make chocolates for them too? I mean I don’t mind making them for Momoi but why do I have to make them for the Aho as well?”

“To say thanks, for taking up their time on Valentine’s Day,” Tetsuya put bluntly.

“Ah shit, is that the day we’re playing basketball together?” Kagami-kun asked as he flicked his eyes over to the calendar again.

Tetsuya nodded as Kagami-kun visibly cringed.

“Crap, I feel like shit now,” Kagami-kun confessed. “What if they had dates or something?”

“Its fine Kagami-kun,” Tetsuya reassured him. “Momoi-san wanted to spend some time with me and Aomine-kun said that he was free.”

Kagami-kun snorted at his last words. “I find that hard to believe.”

Tetsuya raised his eyebrow but didn’t push the matter.

“So you’ll make them?” Tetsuya asked once again.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll make chocolates for Momoi and Ahomine too.”

Tetsuya did a little internal victory dance in his head.

His plan was in motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So..............>.>........................*sweats*..........  
> How did you like the part from Kuroko's point of view?  
> I realise that a lot of people probably wont like it >.>........I just feel like Kuroko is a lot more animated in his head, since he doesn't outwardly show his emotions.......  
> ........  
> ......(please don't hate me T.T)........  
> .......  
> Anyway let me know what you thought. I always love reading your comments :D
> 
> Also you've probably already guessed at it from the main topic of this chapter, but the next chapter will be coming out on Valentine's Day ^_^  
> So I'll see all you lovelies again then XD


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone  
> I hope you're all having a wonderful Valentine's Day ^_^  
> Please continue, to find out how Aomine and Kagami's turned out ;)

February 14th:

Daiki had never, ever, been early for anything in his life. Yet here he was, at the selected basketball court, way too early. He’d tried to blame it on Satsuki, but really, it had been his fault for cutting their shopping trip short. Satsuki had tried to make Valentine’s Day chocolates for Tetsu but had ended up burning every batch that she made. So in the end, she’d decided to pick some up after school on the way to their one-on-one; an act that would probably save Tetsu’s life.

As they’d been browsing the chocolate selection, Aomine had spotted a small box of sweets wrapped in red paper: the same kind of red that Kagami had in his hair. He wondered if he’d be able to give Kagami something since the idiot didn’t even realise what day it was today.

Fate, however, had other ideas as Satsuki spotted him looking at the gifts and squealed.

“Dai-chan, are you going to get a Valentine’s present for Kagamin?”

“What the fuck Satsuki? No!” Daiki growled with embarrassment as a couple of girls nearby giggled. “Just hurry up and pick your damn present so we can go.”

As he sulked out of the store Satsuki hurried back to the counter to pay for her gift and then chased after him.

“Sheesh Dai-chan, what’s your problem?” Satsuki asked as she caught up to him. “There’s nothing wrong with buying gifts for the people you like.”

“I don’t want him to know that I like him,” Daiki said through gritted teeth.

“Fine,” she sighed, reaching into her shopping bag and pulling out a small nicely wrapped box. “Here, Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Daiki looked at her smiling face and grumbled as he took it. Great, the only Valentine’s Day gift that he’d been given was from Satsuki. He hadn’t even gotten any at school today. It wasn’t like he’d wanted any from random girls, but it kind of hurt his ego a bit. He didn’t think that he was THAT terrible looking.

“Thanks,” he muttered as he stuffed the present into his school bag.

Satsuki just smiled all the way to the basketball court. It was then he realised that they’d ended up getting there much earlier than the agreed meeting time.

**____________________________**

Daiki had begun shooting hoops to keep himself distracted and from checking his phone every couple of minutes. After what felt like hours though, he’d asked Satsuki to come and play a bit of ball with him.

“Go easy on me,” she said as she ran to join him.

“Ha! As if,” Daiki smiled as he passed the ball to her.

But of course, he did.

They played for what seemed like ages until Satsuki took a shot at the goal and missed; Daiki chasing after the loose ball. It was then that he heard the high pitched ‘Tetsu-kun’ squeal that Satsuki liked to produce.

Turning around slowly, he made sure to keep his features in check as he laid eyes on the tall red head; his stomach doing that funny flipping thing again that he hated so much.

_Alright, be nice, go and say hello,_ Daiki told himself as he began to follow Satsuki across the basketball court. _Just be nice, you can do it._

Fuck that, he couldn’t do it.

He knew that he was going to say something rude to screw this up.

Maybe he should just leave now? Since his legs were becoming heavier with each step that he took.

They stopped working all together though, when Daiki caught sight of a large bag in Kagami’s hand that was overflowing with colourful gifts.

_Those are....._

Daiki felt his mouth go dry as everyone seemed to notice his sudden halt outside of their circle.

Fuck. Seriously?

How many gifts had the bastard gotten? One from every fucking girl in his school? So much for him not knowing what special day it was today.

“What the fuck are those?” Daiki demanded before he could stop himself.

He saw panic flash through Tetsu’s and Satsuki’s eyes as Kagami looked down at the bag that Daiki was pointing to.

“Oh, they’re Valentine’s Day presents,” Kagami said as if it was nothing. “Yeah a lot of the girls at school gave them to me today. I didn’t even know half of them.”

 “Then why did you accept them?” Daiki asked through gritted teeth; not caring that it was none of his business.

He felt like he was going to explode.

 “Huh?” Kagami asked with a confused tone, “Because they made them for me. I felt bad enough as it was because I didn’t have any in return for them. You don’t refuse gifts like that.”

Daiki was certain that the ball in his hands was about to burst as his grip on it began to tighten.

What the fuck?

Even if he had bought a gift for the idiot, it would have just been added to the pile that Kagami had already received.

Damn it. Why was this guy so popular?

Kagami sighed as he dropped his belongings onto the bench while Tetsu and Satsuki stood frozen, not sure how to intervene. The red head then went rummaging through his school bag and pulled out another gift, which was definitely home made.

Oh for fuck’s sake! Why did he have even more in his bag?

Daiki felt like he was going to murder someone if this shit didn’t stop soon.

“Here,” Kagami said, extending the gift out to Satsuki. “These are for you Momoi.”

Daiki was pretty sure that he stopped breathing as Tetsu’s eyes went wide with alarm and Satsuki helplessly looked between the two of them.

“I...I can’t...” Satsuki panicked refusing to take the gift while she watched in horror as Daiki’s face began to darken even further.

“Huh? But I made it for you.” Kagami stated, forcing the gift into her hands before rummaging through his school bag once again.

Daiki felt like his life was over.

The guy he had a crush on liked his childhood friend.

Of course he could see why. Satsuki wasn’t exactly ugly and she had huge boobs. Any guy would love that. Fuck. He was fucked. His body had completely frozen solid and he was pretty sure this was where he was going to remain for the rest of his life. Just like a–

“Here,” Kagami said again, but this time a blue object was shoved into Daiki’s face instead.

Daiki just stared at the blue wrapped present with its little red bow as his brain seemed to cease working.

“.......What’s this?” Daiki just managed to croak out of his un-responsive mouth.

“Your Valentine’s day present,” Kagami said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Kuroko said that I should make one for everyone. So here is yours.”

Daiki stared at the present again that Kagami had in his out stretched hand and then at Tetsu who now wore an expression of relief. Wait, everyone? Kagami had included him in ‘everyone’. Feeling like his insides were melting with happiness Daiki shakily lifted his hands up to receive the parcel, mentally thanking Tetsu.

“Thanks,” he managed to say as Kagami smiled and zipped up his bag.

“No problem, now let’s play some basketball,” Kagami grinned at him, thawing out the rest of Daiki’s body.

**____________________________**

Momoi Satsuki sat on the bench next to Tetsu-kun as they watched their two aces’ go head to head. She’d given Tetsu-kun his present after the boys had taken to the court and he’d humbly accepted it. Now they sat side by side comparing the chocolates that they’d gotten from Kagamin. She squealed with delight as the light blue haired boy took out a chocolate to show her.

“Eee, they’re little ghosts. That’s sooo cute!”

“What did you get Momoi-san?”

“I think it’s a note pad?” Satsuki said pulling out one of hers. “Wow, did Kagamin actually make these?”

Tetsu-kun nodded as he bit into one.

She then watched as a happy smile rippled across his otherwise blank face.

“Kagami-kun’s cooking is amazing as always,” he said blissfully.

Satsuki copied and tried one of hers; giving herself the same facial expression that the light-blue haired boy was now wearing.

“Kagamin!” she called as the boy dunked the ball through the hoop. “These are amazing.”

Glancing over at them and wiping the sweat off his face, he smiled; a beautiful and big, angelic smile.

“Glad you like them,” he called back as he and Dai-chan went for another round.

Satsuki released a happy sigh as she nibbled away at her gift.

“I can see why Dai-chan likes him so much,” she smiled as she watched their game with a pleasant warmth in her chest.

“Yes, Kagami-kun is an angel,” Tetsu-kun agreed.

There was silence between them for a moment before Satsuki asked in a bit of a shaky voice.

“Do you.......think he has a chance?”

Tetsu-kun continued to watch the game but she could tell that he was thinking.

“I don’t know,” he finally said softly.

Satsuki looked back at the game and silently agreed with him. Kagamin definitely put up with Dai-chan’s antics better than most people. As quick as the red head was to anger, he was also quick to forgive. Dai-chan on the other hand was very selfish; she knew that. Sure he had plenty of good points, but he just wasn’t very good at showing them off; which other people didn’t always realise.

It would be helpful if they knew which way Kagamin swung but Dai-chan, being the stubborn idiot that he was, had banned Tetsu-kun from finding out. She was surprised that he hadn’t banned his former shadow from getting Kagamin to give him chocolates though.

“Thanks for helping him out,” Satsuki smiled. “I thought he was going to break when he saw all the presents that Kagamin had.”

“Of course; I want Aomine-kun to be happy,” Tetsu-kun smiled back. “I did try to make Kagami-kun leave the chocolates that he’d been given at school behind but he said that there was no point in leaving them in his locker. Then he went and gave you your present first. I was also scared for Aomine-kun’s heart.”

“Well, everything worked out in the end,” she said with relief. “However Dai-chan’s not playing so well today.”

“He keeps glancing over at his bag,” Tetsu-kun pointed out. “I think he’s worried we’ll try and steal his chocolates.”

Satsuki laughed at the thought of him sprinting over to protect his gift.

“I wonder what kind of chocolates he got anyway.” Tetsu-kun said glancing at his friend’s bag. “I know why I got the ghosts and I think Kagami-kun gave you note pads because you’re a manager, but I wonder what he made for Aomine-kun. I hope it’s not just boring little squares or something.”

“Squares are better than what I was thinking,” Satsuki admitted.

Tetsu glanced at her curiously.

“Well given their bickering rivalry, I was thinking that maybe Kagamin had made little poop shaped chocolates.”

Light blue eyes widened at her and then shifted to Dai-chan’s bag. He seemed to think that this was very plausible. However they weren’t able to confirm their theory as the other two boys made their way over to the bench, clearly at the end of their game.

“Ha, still can’t beat me Bakagami,” Dai-chan gloated as they stopped in front of them.

“I only lost by one point,” the red head pointed out as he reached for his water bottle. “I was so close. Next time I’m going to beat you for sure.”

“I wasn’t even trying that hard,” Dai-chan continued. “You couldn’t beat me in a million years.”

“Right,” Kagamin said with sarcasm in his voice, “because people who don’t try hard, end up as sweaty as you are by the end of their game.”

“It’s just hot outside today,” the darker skinned boy shrugged.

Satsuki watched as Kagamin raised one of his forked eyebrows at her friend’s stubbornness. He seemed, however, too tired to continue with the bickering and she was grateful for this.

“Hey Kuroko, wanna go and get Maji on the way home?” the red head asked turning to Tetsu-kun.

“Sure, sounds good,” the other boy replied.

“Satsuki, let’s head home,” Dai-chan said in one of his famous bored voices. “Mum’s probably got dinner ready by now.”

Satsuki nodded and the group began to pack up and leave.

**____________________________**

After dinner, when Satsuki had gone home, Daiki made his way back up to his room where he’d left his school bag on his bed. It was still there and as he closed the door behind himself he took a moment to lean against the hard wood and just stare at it.

He hadn’t opened his bag since he’d put Kagami’s gift inside and to be honest he was kind of scared to see if it was still there or not.

What if Tetsu had snuck it out of his bag while he was playing?

He had tried to keep an eye on his friend while he was guarding Kagami, but there was a reason that the kid was known as a ghost.

Wait, what if he’d left the gift at the court? What if he’d only imagined that he’d placed the chocolates in his bag? He’d have to run back and hope that they were still there.

Panic, at the fact that this was probably what he’d done, caused him to lunge at his bag. However, as he pulled open the zip, there they were; sitting neatly upright next to his books.

With a sigh of relief he took a moment to really appreciate the gift.

The chocolates had been wrapped in dark blue cellophane and then tied with a little red ribbon which Daiki couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed at the idea that it resembled him and Kagami.

Seriously, he was looking into this too much, wasn’t he?

Sighing at his over-active imagination, he pulled out the gift carefully and undid the bow.

At first he just stared at the different array of chocolates before a small smile crept onto his lips. He had wondered what Satsuki and Tetsu had been doing on the bench during their game and now he realized that they had been comparing chocolates. Before him, placed carefully in the cellophane, was a mix of shapes, from a basketball that had the black lines drawn on it with dark chocolate, to what appeared to be a cat. Wait, or was it a panther? Yet his favourite one was the simple number five that matched his own basketball jersey.

Wanting to try one, he picked up a basketball shaped one and plopped it into his mouth. The chocolate melted on his tongue almost instantly.

_This is amazing!_

There was no way Kagami had made this himself, but the amount of personal detail that had been put into them caused him to banish that thought straight away.

Fuck. He wished that Kagami could make these for him every single day.

Smiling to himself, he put another one in his mouth and was met with the wonderful melting sensation again.

Seriously, how did Kagami even make something like this?

As he lay on his bed dropping chocolates into his mouth, he felt a warm happiness wash over him.

_This was definitely the best Valentine’s Day ever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading my latest chapter ^_^  
> I hope you liked the ending :)
> 
> Let me know down in the comments on what you thought about it :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone :)  
> Here is the next chapter :D  
> I hope you enjoy it ^_^

March 7th:

“Hey Aho, give me your phone number.”

Aomine was once again chocking on his food. However this time it was Kagami that was staring at him from across the table. His mobile phone already open in his hand and waiting.

“Why the fuck should I give you my number, Bakagami?”

Daiki felt Tetsu strike him in the side as he realised that this was a big jump in their friendship and he should be rejoicing.

“Cause it’s a pain every time we wanna have a one-on-one,” Kagami pointed out. “It’s not fair to keep going through Kuroko.”

“Good idea Kagami-kun,” Tetsu said sipping his vanilla shake.

“Fine,” Aomine grumbled as he pulled out his phone, even though on the inside he was practically jumping for joy.

They swapped phones and began entering in their digits. Daiki could feel his hands shaking as he typed; checking and double checking that every single number was correct. He didn’t want to give Kagami the wrong number and make the idiot think that he was ignoring him.

Finally satisfied that his number was indeed correct, he looked up to see that Kagami was still entering in his own. Feeling slightly confident over this exchange, he quickly opened the contact name info and altered the ‘Aomine’ that the other boy had entered in.

“You done?” Kagami asked, handing back his phone.

Daiki nodded as he handed Kagami’s phone back too; a smirk on his lips. Eyeing him suspiciously, the red head looked down at the newly created contact and burst out laughing.

“Ha-ha! ‘Hot Stuff’? Seriously? There’s no way I’m keeping that contact name,” Kagami said through his laughter.

Daiki deflated a bit. He had kind of been hoping that Kagami would blush a little at the name, but he seemed to think it was a joke instead.

Although, he supposed a laugh was better than an all out ‘gross’.

“I’m going to change it to Aho now,” Kagami said, smiling, as the beeping of the keypad began.

“Well you can be Bakagami then,” Daiki retorted, opening up the contact and making the changes.

“Oi, don’t call me Bakagami,” Kagami protested.

“It’s my phone,” Daiki stated. “I can call you whatever I want.”

Kagami scowled at him before going back to his phone and typing again. Daiki cursed at himself. What was the idiot naming him now? Probably ‘worst asshole in the world. Avoid at all costs’.

 Suddenly Daiki’s phone buzzed.

Looking down, he could see that he’d gotten a message from Kagami.

What had he sent him?

Holding his breath, he went to opened it.

**From: Bakagami**

**To: Me**

**Idiot!**

Daiki smirked as he looked back up at the red head.

“I know you are but what am I?”

He almost laughed at Kagami’s twitch of annoyance but was stopped as he felt Tetsu jab him in the side again.

This time it was a lot more painful.

_Yeah, I probably deserved that one,_ he grumpily thought as he rubbed his abused ribs.

**____________________________**

After Kagami had left in a sour mood, Tetsu slid into the seat opposite Daiki and glared at the tanned boy with his disapproving eyes.

“I’m sorry, alright,” he mumbled, while fidgeting with his hands under the table.

“The one you should be apologising to, left about ten minutes ago,” Tetsu said coldly.

Daiki slumped in his seat and looked up at the ceiling. “………I know.”

“I want to help you Aomine-kun,” Tetsu sighed, “but I’ve never met anyone who is able to rile people up like you do. Besides, for someone who doesn’t want their crush to know their true feelings putting ‘Hot Stuff’ in his phone was probably not the best idea. You’re just lucky that Kagami-kun is an angel and took it as a joke.”

“Anything else?” Daiki grumbled; he didn’t need Tetsu pointing out all his mistakes and flaws, he was already very much aware of them.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Daiki looked back at his friend who seemed to be deciding on whether to continue the conversation or not.

“There was something else I was going to ask you...” Tetsu trailed off; as if he wasn’t sure whether this was a topic that they should be discussing now.

“Just ask it,” Daiki sighed, resting his head in his hands; today wasn’t going to get any better, that much was certain.

Tetsu nodded and took a deep breath. “I was wondering………what you were planning on buying for White Day?”

“Huh?” Daiki said, looking back up at his friend with confusion. “I was just going to take Satsuki shopping and let her pick out whatever she wanted, like I usually do.”

Tetsu paused for a second before saying, “I was talking about Kagami-kun, or did you forget that he also gave you Valentine’s Day chocolates?”

Daiki felt his eyes widen and warmth creep onto his cheeks.

Fuck, of course. Usually Satsuki was the only one he gave White Day gifts to, but this year.......

“And before you say, ‘it’s too embarrassing’ or ‘I don’t want him to know’,” Tetsu interjected, pulling him from his thoughts. “I don’t care. You’re going to buy Kagami-kun a return gift to say thanks and I also think it would help mend today’s events.”

“But...”Daiki groaned as he thought of all the possible ways Kagami would react; mostly negative.

“No buts,” Tetsu ordered. “We’ll go shopping on Sunday with Momoi-san and together we’ll help you find something that he’ll like.”

Daiki buried his face in his hands. He was pretty sure that this was going to be the final nail in his coffin.

 

March 12th:

Daiki wasn’t liking this at all, not one bit. They’d been walking around all morning, moving from one shop to the next as he rejected every single gift Tetsu or Satsuki held up for him.

“Dai-chan you have to get him something,” Satsuki pouted as she placed the latest offered gift back on the shelf.

“It’s all too girly though,” Daiki protested, “and I don’t want him to laugh at how stupid the gift is.”

“Kagami-kun wouldn’t laugh at your gift,” Tetsu said behind him which caused him to jump.

“Fine, I don’t want him to think it’s weird or call it gross.”

Satsuki sighed and shook her head as they continued onwards to the next shop.

“So what kind of present do you think Kagamin would like then?” she asked as they walked into a clothing store.

“If I knew that, this wouldn’t be taking so damn long,” Daiki growled. “I’ll know it when I see it.”

Satsuki just shook her head again as she wandered off amongst the clothing racks while him and Tetsu headed over to the men’s section. Daiki grumbled to himself as he sifted through shirts and jumpers; pulling out potential options but then realising that they were all things that he would wear and he had no idea if Kagami had similar tastes or not.

“This is useless,” Daiki grumbled shoving another t-shirt back onto the rack.

“Don’t lose hope Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said with a smile, which Daiki just returned with a glare.

As they walked up and down the racks of men’s clothing, Daiki began to get more and more frustrated.

This was an impossible task!

Letting off a frustrated sigh he decided that he was ready to give up just as Satsuki came running over to them.

“Dai-chan,” she called weaving in between all the men that stopped to stare at her. “I’ve found the present that I want you to give me.”

Daiki glared at each and every one of them before returning his gaze to Satsuki who was holding up a light blue sweater in front of him.

“Isn’t a White Day present meant to be White?” Daiki asked looking at her gleeful face. “Besides we’re going into spring. You won’t have much use for a sweater.”

“But I like this colour,” she pouted, giving him her puppy dog eyes, “and it’s still really cold in the mornings.”

“Fine,” Daiki sighed taking the sweater from her hands, “I’ll get you this one.”

“Yay,” she cheered. “Now as soon as you find your present for Kagamin we can go home.”

“But Momoi-san, I still haven’t gotten you a White Day present yet,” Tetsu said smiling at her.

Satsuki seemed to freeze before her whole face dipped a deep shade of red.

“You’re getting me...a White Day present?” she squeaked.

“Of course,” Tetsu said turning his smile up a couple more degrees. “You gave me Valentine’s Day chocolates so I need to return the favour. Is there anything else you’d like?”

“Ah...ah...there’s a jewellery store across the road...” she fumbled.

“Sounds good, shall we go and have a look?”

Satsuki nodded, her face still flushed.

“We’ll be back shortly then Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said glancing over his shoulder. “Make sure you don’t _accidentally_ head home without a gift.”

Daiki averted his gaze and nodded; pissed that Tetsu was intent on trapping him until he found something.

As the other two left, Daiki irritably returned to looking around the store.

Seriously, why was finding a gift for Kagami so damn hard?

_Because it’s Kagami that you’re buying it for, idiot,_ Daiki mentally cursed at himself.

As he rummaged through shelf after shelf and rack after rack, Daiki decided that he’d have to move on to another store. He was losing patience fast and clearly wasn’t going to find anything here.

On his way up to the counter to pay for Satsuki’s gift, though, his hand brushed against something incredibly soft. Glancing down, he was met with a slightly off-white, long thick scarf.

_Would a scarf be a good gift?_ He wondered as he gently pulled the item off its rack.

Touching it again made him really appreciate how soft it actually was. It kind of made him think of all the brief moments where he’d come in contact with Kagami’s skin, either in passing or nudging one another. His skin always seemed to be soft and warm to Daiki. Feeling a blush creep onto his cheeks he headed over to the nearest mirror.

The scarf looked good on him as he wrapped it around his neck but he wondered if it would suit Kagami. He tried to picture the boys red hair and his face wrapped up in the white material. It’d probably make him look really cute.....

Daiki had to bury his face in his hands as he felt his blush spread further across his cheeks.

_Seriously Daiki. You’re in a store,_ he mentally growled, _get a hold of yourself._

Looking once again at the scarf, he contemplated whether it was a worthy gift. Satsuki had said that it was still cold in the mornings, which was true, but did Kagami even wear scarfs? Daiki had trouble remembering the boy in one. Kagami always seemed to be in a t-shirt and shorts, or was that just because those were the type of clothes that he wore to their one-on-ones? Maybe he could leave it and have a further look around to see if there was a better option?

Wait, what if someone else bought the scarf while he was browsing? Daiki hadn’t seen any doubles of it on the rack.

Shit. This was a problem. What if he went and grabbed Satsuki for her opinion? No the same problem still applied. Someone could come in and buy it while he left the store. Sticking his hand into his pocket he pulled out his phone and called Satsuki. He could at least ask if it sounded alright. Maybe they’d finished and could come back and help him decide?

The phone rang and rang until he got Satsuki’s message bank.

_Damn it. Alright let's try Tetsu._

Again the phone just continued to ring through to the message bank.

Shit, he’d have to make a decision now. Should he or should he not get Kagami a scarf for White Day?

_It is the only thing that you’ve liked so far,_ he pointed out to himself.

But was it good enough? Now that he’d decided to get the idiot something, would this be ok?

“Do you need some help there sir?” a friendly woman’s voice sounded next to him.

Daiki jumped as he turned to see a sales woman looking up at him with her business smile.

“Ah...yeah...I was wondering...if this would be an alright...White Day present,” he stumbled as he removed the scarf from around his neck.

“I think she’d love it,” the woman said happily.

Daiki blanched and then looked away rubbing the back of his neck. Should he tell her? Admitting he had a crush on a guy was awkward but he did kind of need an honest opinion.

“Um...it’s...for a guy,” he mumbled not meeting her eyes.

There was silence for a moment as Daiki realised that he’d probably shocked her and wished that he could have just made the decision for himself.

“Is he as tall as you?” the sales woman asked as she seemed to recover.

“Ah, yeah,” Daiki admitted blushing at the ground, “pretty much the same height.”

“Mmm...I think it’ll look good on him then,” she said with warmth in her voice.

Daiki looked back at her, shocked, to see that she was smiling at him. That was definitely not what he’d been expecting

“Really?” Daiki asked clutching the white scarf in his hands.

The woman nodded. “If he’d been smaller I probably would have suggested a shorter one but since he’s your height a longer scarf always looks best. Also this material is very soft and retains heat really well.”

“I......I think I’ll get it then,” he nodded awkwardly, his cheeks still burning red.

“Excellent,” the woman smiled. “Would you like me to put it through for you now?”

Daiki nodded once again and followed the woman over to the counter.

“So since this is a gift, would you like me to wrap it up for you?” the woman asked as she scanned both the items that Daiki handed to her.

“Ah yeah, thanks,” Daiki said, his blush creeping back a little as he remembered how terrible he was a wrapping things.

“No problem,” the woman chirped. “Would you like this one wrapped as well?”

She held up Satsuki’s sweater with a quizzical look on her face as if to ask why he was buying a guy a scarf and a... _girl’s_ sweater?

“Nah, that one’s for my sister,” Daiki mumbled; that was the best way to describe her right?

The woman smiled once again then nodded as she folded the sweater and placed it in one of their company’s bags.

“Also just a warning, because it’s getting wrapped up I’ll be cutting the tags off,” the woman explained. “This means you won’t be able to return the gift.”

“That’s fine,” Daiki shrugged; he would force Kagami to take it if he had to.

“Alright, so what colour box would you like?” she asked as she snipped the tags off.

“Ah...red?” Daiki said awkwardly; thinking of Kagami’s hair again.

The woman nodded and pulled out a medium sized red box from the wall behind her and then folded the white scarf inside. She then placed the lid back on the box and began to wrap a thick red ribbon around it.

“How’s this?” she asked holding the finished gift up for Daiki to inspect.

“Yeah.......looks good,” he nodded, noticing a bit too late that red was probably a bit too much of a romantic colour.

The woman smiled and rung up his total for him, which Daiki cringed at slightly but handed over the money none the less.

Kagami better be fucking happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, another chapter done :)  
> What did you guys think?  
> Let me know down in the comments ^_^ and I'll see you all again on White Day ;D


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovelies :)  
> I hope you're all having a wonderful White Day :D  
> Continue reading to find out how Aomine's and Kagami's White Day went ;)

March 13th:

Tetsuya entered the school that morning with a smile in his heart.

Yesterday Aomine-kun had managed to pick out a gift all by himself to give to Kagami-kun. Even though his old light wouldn’t tell him what he’d picked, the sight of the deep blush that had been etched into his tanned cheeks had filled Tetsuya with joy. It seemed as though Aomine-kun was finally becoming more confident with his feelings.

As he made his way past the other students, past the lockers, changing his shoes in the process, and down the corridors, he was greeted with a very bizarre sight at his classroom. There, surrounding Kagami-kun at his desk, were a group of boys from their year. Curious about the conversation that was happening, Tetsuya ghosted over to them to listen.

“So Kagami, what are you going to do about White Day?” one boy asked with a smirk.

“Yeah, we know you got heaps of chocolates on Valentine’s Day,” another interjected with a sour face.

“Are you planning on returning _all_ of them?”

Kagami-kun blinked up at the boys through his forked eyebrows. “Huh?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot? HA-HA man you’re so screwed, it’s tomorrow you idiot.”

“Reckon they’ll eat him alive?”

“Probably,”

“Wait,” Kagami-kun interrupted as he looked around at the boys suspiciously. “What’s White Day?”

There was silence amongst the group as they all seemed to try and figure out whether Kagami-kun was messing with them or not. Tetsuya really hoped he was.

“You’re joking right?” one boy ventured.

“No I’m not,” Kagami-kun huffed in irritation, “I have no idea what White Day is. We don’t have a White Day back in America.”

Everyone stared at the confused and frustrated red head before falling into fits of laughter.

“Yeah he’s screwed.”

“So screwed,”

“Oi, oi, tell me what’s going on,” Kagami-kun ordered.

Tetsuya decided that he had better intervene. If Kagami-kun didn’t know what tomorrow was, then Aomine-kun giving him a present out of the blue would probably not end well.

“Good morning everyone,” Tetsuya said clearing his throat.

The whole group jumped as their eyes swivelled towards the small blue haired boy.

“Fuck, it’s just Kuroko,”

“Sheesh, give us some warning man,”

“I swear that just knocked thirty years off my life.”

Kagami-kun’s shocked face was the first to recover as he locked eyes with him.

“Oi Kuroko, what’s White Day?” he asked. He seemed to have come to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to get an answer out of any of the other boys.

“White Day is the day, precisely one month after Valentine’s Day, where all the boys who got chocolates have to give a gift back to the girl that they accepted the sweets from,” Tetsuya stated as he watched Kagami-kun’s face contort into a mix of realisation and understanding.

“Yeah and the gift is meant to be three times the value of what you got, Kagami,” one of the boys interjected.

Tetsuya would have found the situation amusing, as he watched Kagami-kun try to do the math in his head of all the gifts he had to return, if it wasn’t for the fact that he didn’t want the boy to be lavishing attention on random girls.

“Although it’s fine if it’s home made,” Tetsuya put in. “If it’s home made it doesn’t have to be three times the worth since you’re probably putting in three times the effort.”

“Home made...” Kagami-kun mumbled to himself.

“It also has to be white,” One of the boys announced.

“Like white chocolate,” another added. “That’s usually a popular choice.”

At that moment, the classroom door opened and their teacher walked in; instructing them to take their seats so that they could begin class.

“Damn it Kuroko,” Kagami-kun muttered under his breath. “Why didn’t you mention anything about this before?”

 _Because I was too busy worrying about the other idiot,_ Tetsuya mentally retorted.

As he moved to take his seat, though, he noticed that Kagami-kun was hastily writing what appeared to be a shopping list for his trip home. Releasing a breath that he didn’t know he’d been holding, Tetsuya sighed with relief as another crisis seemed to have been narrowly avoided.

**____________________________**

It was about eight o’clock in the evening as Daiki sat on his bed, glaring at the red present that was balancing on his chair. He wasn’t fucking doing it. Nope. No way. He didn’t care if Kagami was expecting a gift or not, he wasn’t fucking giving him one.

 _Then why did you buy it, asshole?_ Daiki mentally hissed. _Stop being a fucking wuss._

Daiki grinded his teeth as he glared harder at the red box.

His mother had already seen it when she’d been tidying up his room while he was at school and her array of questions had started as soon as he had walked in the front door, putting him in a foul mood. He’d lied of course, saying that it was for Satsuki, which she hadn’t believed in the slightest. It hadn’t helped either when Tetsu had messaged him to say, **Kagami-kun now knows it’s White Day tomorrow,** which clearly meant; don’t forget to give him your present.

Groaning, Daiki slumped down on his bed and pulled out his mobile phone. He hadn’t even arranged to meet the red head tomorrow. What if they guy was busy with some chick? He would look like an idiot if he had to carry that gift around all day. Remembering all the gifts that Kagami had gotten on Valentine’s Day he wondered if the boy would be returning any of them?

It’s Kagami; of course he’d return them.

He groaned once again and buried his face in his hands. Maybe he could get Tetsu to give Kagami his present. Then he wouldn’t have to suffer the embarrassment.

No. Tetsu would just look at him and tell him to do it himself.

 _Fine!_ He berated himself as though Tetsu was actually standing there, giving him his disapproving stare.

**From: Me**

**To: Bakagami**

**Yo! You free tomorrow? Wanna play some basketball?**

Daiki felt like his whole body was shaking as he sent the message. If Kagami didn’t respond or if he was too busy then he’d just throw the present in the bin.

He was surprised however when his phone vibrated almost immediately.

**From: Bakagami**

**To: Me**

**Yeah sounds good :D Usual court?**

Daiki felt his insides get all warm and fuzzy as he rolled around on his bed in happiness.

**From: Me**

**To: Bakagami**

**Sure. 4:30pm good for you?**

He wanted to play earlier but he knew the idiot wouldn’t miss a training session for the world.

**From: Bakagami**

**To: Me**

**Don’t have training tomorrow so wanna make it earlier? Say 3:30pm?**

Daiki didn’t know what he’d done in a past life to deserve this good luck.

**From: Me**

**To: Bakagami**

**Hell yeah!**

He’d done it! Aomine fucking Daiki had successfully arranged to meet up with one Kagami Taiga on White Day.

**From: Bakagami**

**To: Me**

**Haha see you tomorrow then.**

 

March 14th:

Tetsuya was at the shoe locker with Kagami-kun when the first one appeared; the girl approaching them cautiously before greeting Kagami-kun.

“Ah Kagami-kun, on Valentine’s Day I gave you chocolates.....” she started awkwardly.

“Oh yeah,” Kagami-kun said reaching inside his bag and pulling out a small white chocolate rabbit wrapped in clear cellophane and tied off with a white bow. “It’s home made. Is that ok?”

The girl’s eyes lit up and Tetsuya was pretty sure he saw the beginning of tears appear at the edges of them.

“Yes, thank you,” she cried accepting the gift.

After the girl ran off leaving a confused Kagami-kun, Tetsuya peered into his friend’s school bag to see that it was full of the same identical chocolates.

“They’re sort of small, aren’t they, Kagami-kun,” Tetsuya said in a teasing tone.

“Hey, you said it was fine if they were small,”

“Yes, I did,” Tetsuya smiled to himself as they made their way to class, glad that Kagami-kun had taken him literally.

**____________________________**

As the day progressed girls came from all over the school to receive their White Day gift from Kagami-kun. They were there in between classes and during lunch time, some even showed up during their sports class. Tetsuya was actually amazed at the determination of these girls.

When the final bell sounded for the day he noticed that Kagami-kun quickly packed up his things and was ready to make a bolt for it.

“Kagami-kun,” Tetsuya called as his friend almost reached the door. “We don’t have training today so you don’t have to rush.”

“Ah, yeah, sorry Kuroko, going to go and play basketball with Aomine,” Kagami-kun said with a wave before disappearing from the classroom.

Tetsuya smiled to himself. Everything was going according to plan.

Kagami-kun had given out only very small White Day gifts and it seemed as though Aomine-kun would be the only one to give him a gift in return; he’d made sure that he and Momoi-san would give Kagami-kun their gifts tomorrow. As he packed up his things he congratulated himself on a day well done.

Still feeling quite pleased with himself, Tetsu made his way towards the classroom exit, however, before he could even reach the wooden frame,the door was slid open and the entire Seirin basketball team poured into the room.

“Huh, where has Kagami gone?” they all seemed to chorus together. “We came to give him our White Day presents.”

Tetsuya felt his happy feeling slowly sink to his stomach.

**____________________________**

Daiki arrived at the basketball court with a blush on his face that he felt had been there for most of the day. He had stuffed Kagami’s present into his school bag but then realised that he didn’t have enough room for all his school books, so he’d had to put them all in a separate bag. This had generated questions from everyone the whole day. What did he have in his bag that was so big that he couldn’t even fit his school books in? As much as the questions annoyed him though there was no way he was taking the present out and risking humiliation.

As he stood just outside of the court, checking that he still had the present in his bag for the millionth time that day, the sound of a basketball being dribbled met his ears.

_Ha, so Kagami is already here._

Stepping onto the court he was greeted with the sight of Kagami finishing off a slam dunk.

 _Damn,_ he thought, slightly impressed.

He continued to watch as Kagami ran to go and fetch the loose ball, before turning around to do another lay-up. It was then that the red head locked eyes with Daiki.

“Aomine,” he called waving, “you’re finally here.”

Daiki rubbed the back of his neck and walked onto the court to greet the other boy.

Shit. Was he supposed to give Kagami the present now? How casually could he take it out of his bag and hand it to him? Maybe it would be better to give it to him after their game. That way he could toss it and run before the idiot started making stupid comments.

“Yo, you’re late idiot,” Kagami said grinning as he ran over to him. “Even though you were the one who wanted to have a one-on-one this time.”

“Shut up. I’m here aren’t I,” Daiki growled feeling the red slowly return to his cheeks as he put his bag down next to Kagami’s.

 _Yeah, I’ll give it to him after the game,_ Daiki thought as he shrugged off his jumper and followed Kagami back out onto the court. _Maybe playing basketball will help me sort my nerves out._

**____________________________**

Well, it hadn’t.

As they finally called it quits for the day Daiki awkwardly followed Kagami over to the bench where they’d left their belongings.

_I have to do it now. I have to do it now._

He watched as Kagami took a swig from his water bottle and then paused to wipe the sweat off his face with the bottom of his shirt, causing his mid drift to become exposed.

Something hard hit Daiki in the chest at that moment, so hard that he had to grab onto the court fence to steady himself.

Shit, was that his heart?

 _What the fuck Kagami, don’t go flashing people like that,_ his brain roared as he caught sight of the boy’s toned abs; coated in a fresh sheen of sweat.

Sure Daiki was toned and fit as well, but Kagami was on a different level.

As Kagami lowered his shirt and began packing up his things Daiki’s mind seemed to start working again. Right, shit, the present!

Hastily reaching down and opening his bag, he was half way through pulling out the red box when...

“Hey, what’s that?” Kagami’s curious voice sounded behind him.

Daiki honestly didn’t know how he managed to find the will to not shove the present back into his bag and declare that it was nothing. Instead, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground, he slowly stood up, present in hand, and held it out to Kagami.

“I...it’s your...White Day....present,” Daiki stammered, feeling his blush return anew as he stared at his feet.

Silence ensued but Daiki was too scared to raise his head and look at Kagami’s face; so he stayed there with his arm out stretched. Seconds passed by, fuck maybe even a whole minute before he felt Kagami take the box from his hands.

“Ah...thanks,” he said awkwardly, “but you know you really didn’t have to get me anything.”

Daiki was going to kill Tetsu.

“Can I open it?” Kagami asked, taking a seat on the bench.

“If you want,” Daiki mumbled as he slumped down on the ground and rested his head in his hands.

Kagami had accepted the present. That was all Daiki cared about.

“Isn’t it meant to be white though?” Kagami chuckled as he began undoing to the ribbon.

“It’s white on the inside, just open the stupid thing would ya,” Daiki grumbled as he gripped his head, not sure why he wasn’t running as far away from this place as he could.

“I am, I am,” Kagami laughed as he finished loosening the ribbon.

Daiki felt as though time slowed down as he watched Kagami take the lid off the box. Would he like it? Maybe a scarf was too plain a present?

“Hey, nice,” Kagami said as he lifted the scarf out of the box.

Daiki felt his stomach flutter.

“You.......like it?” he asked nervously.

“Yeah it looks really warm,” Kagami smiled, holding the scarf in his hands. “It’s long too. I really like long scarves.”

Daiki felt like his whole body was on fire, there was no doubt that his face was betraying him right now.

“Good.....glad you like it.”

“I wanna try it on now but I’m all sweaty,” Kagami said, frowning a little as he brought the scarf up to his face.

“Wait ‘til you get home idiot,” Daiki growled, pushing away the mental image of a sweaty Kagami. “Don’t make it dirty just after you’ve gotten it.”

“Yeah, alright,”

Kagami went to place the scarf back in the box but paused halfway and brought his present back up to his face and sniffed.

“What’re you doing idiot,” Daiki laughed.

“It smells.......a little like you,” Kagami mumbled sniffing the scarf again.

Daiki froze as Kagami turned to give him a questioning look.

“I....I tried it on.....in the store,” Daiki stumbled. “You...you know.....we’re the same height and........and........wait, how do you even know what I smell like?”

“Ha-ha I play basketball with you, of course I know what you smell like,” Kagami laughed.

Daiki felt his heart thump as he watched Kagami finally put the scarf away. Kagami knew what he smelt like? Was it a bad smell? What did Kagami smell like? Wait...if he thought about it...yeah he guessed that he knew what the other boy smelt like too. Kagami usually smelled sweet and kind of like clean laundry.

“I generally know what everyone I play basketball with smells like,” Kagami said continuing the conversation, “except for Kuroko. It’s weird man. Like what kind of person doesn’t have a smell.”

“Ha-ha,what are you a dog or something?” Daiki laughed when he saw how serious Kagami was being.

“Hey don’t compare me with those things,” the red head growled as his face darkened.

Daiki laughed even harder at that causing Kagami to give him an annoyed look before letting a grin slip.

“Anyway, thanks for the present,” Kagami said smiling down at him. “You know, you’re the only one who’s given me a return gift.”

Daiki felt his cheeks flush at the other boy’s words.

Seriously? He was the only one? Hadn’t Satsuki and Tetsu gotten him gifts as well?

“Oh yeah,” Daiki said remembering the other reason he’d given Kagami a gift. “...about the other day.”

“What other day?”

“You know.........at the burger place.”

He watched as Kagami’s face darkened slightly.

“Yes, I remember,” he said coldly.

Daiki swallowed hard and rubbed his hands together nervously.

“...sorry...”

There was silence for a moment as Kagami blinked at him.

“Did you just–”

“Shut up!” Daiki shouted, burying his face in his hands in embarrassment.

“Ha-ha-ha, fuck, you just...ha-ha, oh man……”

Daiki tried to make himself as small as possible as Kagami’s laughs echoed around the court.

After what felt like ages Kagami’s booming laugh subsided into a small chuckle.

“Aho, you don’t need to apologise,” Kagami said moving himself to sit opposite Daiki on the ground. “I wasn’t really mad with you. It just pissed me off that I couldn’t come up with a good come back.”

Daiki took his turn to blink at the grinning red.

“Ok, sure,sometimes you do go a bit far,” Kagami continued, “but seriously it’s fine.”

“Really?” Daiki wasn’t entirely sure what he was hearing.

“Yeah, besides, you know when you’ve done something wrong because your mood changes.”

“No it doesn’t,” Daiki said defensively, believing that there was no way he’d ever let anything like that show through.

“Yeah it does,” Kagami said laughing at his stubbornness. “It’s small but I’ve learnt to pick up on it.”

“What are you turning into frigging Tetsu or something?”

“Well you hang around him long enough you start to pick up a thing or too,” Kagami shrugged with a smile. “But what I’m trying to say is that I don’t mind that we fight all the time.”

Daiki stared at Kagami as he tried to process this information. Was this good news or bad news? Good, he guessed? It meant that he could stop being so scared about fucking up all the time but on the other hand, weren’t couples meant to get along?

...

_........_

_We’re not a couple idiot,_ he thought, pushing the notion out of his head.

Feeling flustered he looked back at Kagami and realised that he was still talking.

“...over here in Japan you have to be polite all the time so...well......I mean......it’s kinda nice having someone who I can have a full blown argument with about which burger type is superior and then turn around ten minutes later and play great basketball with them.” Kagami smiled. “I like hanging out with you Aomine ‘cause I don’t feel like I have to tip toe around you all the time. I can just be myself when I’m around you.”

Daiki knew his face was red. He knew his brain was beginning to cease working. Kagami liked hanging out with him? He...he...

“How...how can you say such embarrassing things?” Daiki blurted out not being able to keep his cool any longer.

Kagami laughed again. “Well wanna stop talking about embarrassing things and go and get something to eat?”

Daiki nodded as they both stood up, his legs shaking beneath him.

After packing up their things, Daiki putting his books back into his bag now that he had room and Kagami tucking his present under his arm, they made their way off the court.

They walked in silence for a while as Daiki tried to think of something to say. Kagami had just said something important. He should say something too. Gritting his teeth he took in one deep breath.

“...you too...” Daiki mumbled as they walked side by side. “I like...hanging out with you too.”

Kagami’s raised an eyebrow,then smiled.

“Good to hear.”

Daiki blushed as he realised that he’d made the conversation awkward again. Kagami, however, seemed to notice this and steered the conversation in a different direction.

“So are you going to get cheeseburgers this time?”

“Huh, as if. Teriyaki is the best.”

“Cheeseburger,”

“Teriyaki burger,”

“Cheeseburger,”

“Teriyaki Burger,”

“...What if you combined the two?”

“That’d be gross man.”

“Nah think about it, a teriyaki cheeseburger.”

“...”

“That’d be cool right?”

“It’d taste weird.”

“No it wouldn’t.”

“Yes it would.”

Daiki smiled as they bickered all the way to the burger joint. A successful White Day indeed.

**____________________________**

-Meanwhile-

“But Kuroko, why can’t we give Kagami our White Day presents today?”

“Because you’re not allowed to,” Kuroko said firmly. “You can give them to him tomorrow.”

“But–”

“Nope, end of discussion.”

“...”

(Kuroko can be scary sometimes).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my latest chapter :D  
> I hope you all enjoyed it ^_^
> 
> Unfortunately, though, I have a little bit of bad news for this story.......  
> .............>.> ...................*sweats*.......................
> 
> I'm heading off to Japan in a couple of days, for a month long holiday, and won't be posting while I travel........ :(  
> ( Please don't hate me T.T )
> 
> However, if you want to follow my travels and make sure that I'm still alive, then follow my Aokaga / Kagaao blog for all the Aomine and Kagami things that I find in Japan: https://uke-mine.tumblr.com/  
> my photography blog, if you're interested in that: https://riellephotography.tumblr.com/  
> or follow my personal blog for everything else: https://riellity.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thank you once again, and I'll see you all in a month :D


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cracks fingers*
> 
> Alright people, I'm back XD
> 
> I've been writing heaps while I've been on holiday, so strap yourselves in because the next few weeks are going to be one hell of a ride ;)
> 
> Enjoy~

March 23rd:

 _Fuck its cold this morning,_ Daiki grumbled to himself.

He’d planned on skipping first class and napping on the school roof but since it seemed that the world had decided to freeze over, he might as well attend. Seriously, it was already spring, it should be warmer than this. Damn weather. As he made his way through the school halls he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket; probably Satsuki telling him to go to class.

Flipping open his phone he saw that the text was from Tetsu, not Satsuki, with an interesting subject. **It’s cold this morning.**

 _Yeah I already know that,_ Daiki mentally scoffed as he opened up the message.

Daiki froze, actually stopped walking, which caused people to suddenly skid around him. On his screen was a photo of Kagami walking through Seirin’s school gates with a white scarf wrapped multiple times around his neck. Daiki felt his stomach flip as a ridiculous smile crawled onto his face.

Quickly ducking into the near-by men’s room, Daiki locked himself inside a stall so that he could stare at the photo. However, it seemed that Tetsu wasn’t done as Daiki received another message. This time it was labelled: **Maybe you should have gotten him gloves as well.** Excitedly opening the message he was greeted with a very close photo of the side of Kagami’s face as he appeared to be walking past Tetsu, his nose and fingers red as he blew warm air onto his hands.

 **Oops, I got caught** , was the next subject. This time Daiki met red crimson eyes that seemed to glare at him through his phone. He shuddered slightly. Hopefully Tetsu wouldn’t get into too much trouble.

**____________________________**

“Oi Kuroko, what are you doing?” Kagami-kun asked him as he walked over to where he was standing.

“Good Morning Kagami-kun,”Tetsuya said, trying to sound innocent. “I was just showing Aomine-kun that you were appreciating his gift.”

Kagami-kun looked down at the white scarf wrapped around his neck and thumbed the ends of it with his red fingers.

“Um...well, could you tell him...”

**____________________________**

Daiki had successfully saved all of the photos Tetsu had sent him, and was just about to leave the stall when his phone buzzed again. There was no subject this time and he hoped that Kagami hadn’t strangled his old shadow.

Opening the message, Daiki felt his heart skip a beat.

Kagami was smiling through the screen at him with his right hand held up in a peace sign and his eyes shut tight. It was a big smile, the kind that felt like fifty suns were looking down on you.

Scrolling to the bottom of the message, Daiki saw that Tetsu had written a note under the picture.

**Kagami-kun says thank you for the gift.**

Daiki felt his insides melt as he looked back at the picture.

“That’s not fair,” Daiki mumbled into his hands as he slid down onto the stall floor, a deep blush running across his face.

In the end, Daiki missed the first period anyway.

 

March 27th:

Tetsuya stared down at his phone at the message that he’d just received.

**From: Aomine-kun**

**To: Me**

**Hey what’s Kagami doing at the moment?**

He looked up at the red head that was sitting in front of him, watching the teacher as he wrote notes on the board.

**From: Me**

**To: Aomine-kun**

**He’s sitting in class, as am I, and as you should be too.**

Tetsuya sighed quietly to himself as he wondered what his old friend wanted now.

**From: Aomine-kun**

**To: Me**

**I am, I am, see... (Picture) ...so send me a photo of Kagami again.**

_Ah, so that’s what he was after,_ Tetsuya smiled

Looking at the photo of what appeared to be people’s legs and desks, it did indeed seem as though Aomine-kun was sitting in class.

**From: Me**

**To: Aomine-kun**

**He’s sitting in front of me so it’d just be a photo of his back. Promise me that you’ll go to practice today and I’ll send you a picture of him playing instead.**

Tetsuya sighed, hoping that would satisfy him.

**From: Aomine-kun**

**To: Me**

**Seriously! Yeah I promise. Thanks Tetsu, you’re the best.**

Smiling at his friend’s eagerness he quickly replied.

**From: Me**

**To: Aomine-kun**

**I’ll be checking with Momoi-san that you’ve actually attended though before I send you anything. She told me the other day that you’ve still been skipping practice quite regularly.**

The reply this time didn’t come instantly. In fact it took about fifteen minutes for him to get an answer.

**From: Aomine-kun**

**To: Me**

**I said I’ll go, so I’ll go.**

Tetsuya could practically feel Aomine-kun’s pout through the phone.

**From: Me**

**To: Aomine-kun**

**Glad to hear it.**

**____________________________**

Tetsuya sat on the sidelines, with mobile phone in hands, as his team was having a practice match amongst themselves. Momoi-san had already messaged him, happily saying that Aomine-kun had attended practice so he figured that he should keep his side of the deal. Every time Kagami went up for a dunk he would casually raise his phone and snap a quick pic. Although he was starting to want a better angle.

Getting up from the bench he ghosted around the court, snapping shots here and there. When he saw the play coming down towards the hoop, he couldn’t resist standing at the edge of the court right under the ring as Kagami went for another dunk.

Click.

It was an amazing photo, if Tetsuya could say so himself, however it was only inevitable that he would get caught. Kagami now stood in front of him, panting, with a confused look on his face.

“Kuroko did you just take a picture of me?”

“Yes, I did,” he said not letting it show in the slightest that he was frantically trying to find an acceptable excuse as the whistle was blown, indicating a time out. “I was going to show Aomine-kun that if he doesn’t start training properly soon then he probably won’t do so well against you in our next game.”

Tetsuya wasn’t even aware that Kagami could pull an evil grin, yet that was what appeared to be spreading across the red heads face.

“Oi, Kuroko, let me send it,”

He had to blink a couple of times before saying, with a little smile in his voice, “Kagami-kun, I didn’t know that you were the gloating type.”

“Huh, nah, the basted just keeps going on about how great he is every time he beats me in a one-on-one,” Kagami-kun scowled, “I’ll show him I’m just as good.”

Tetsuya smiled before handing his phone over to the red head.

“Which ones do you want then?”

“You took more than one?” Kagami-kun asked as he began flicking through the images. “Ah that one’s good...ooh this one’s cool...mmm....that one, yeah that one as well. Can you send me those three?”

“Of course, Kagami-kun,” Tetsuya smiled as the whistle blew, indicating it was time for them to get back on court.

 _This might actually turn out better for them,_ he thought pleasantly.

**____________________________**

Daiki was pissed.

He’d turned up to training, been good, joined in the team drills, even put up with Wakamatsu’s bullshit and still, he was yet to receive anything from Tetsu. No matter how many times he checked his phone there was no new message. He’d even made sure before practice started that Satsuki texted Tetsuto tell him how good he was being.

“Alright, quick break and then we’ll have a game,” Wakamatsu called out to everyone in the gym.

Daiki stormed over to his belongings, deciding that if he still didn’t have anything from Tetsu then he was going to slip out now. He’d kept his end of the bargain, damn it.

Snatching up his phone he flipped it open and found that there was now a new message waiting for him.

 _Fucking finally,_ he mentally snarled as he unlocked his phone. _It better be a fucking good one, for taking so freaking long._

However as his screen unlocked he found that the message was from Kagami and not Tetsu.

...

......

Shit. Had Kagami found out that he was asking for pictures of him. Was this text telling him that he was fucking gross and creepy, and to stay the hell away from him for now on?

_Relax, Kagami wouldn’t say that....right....?_

Cringing slightly he opened to message.

**From: Bakagami**

**To: Me**

**Hope you’re training hard or I’m going to wipe the floor with you at our next match.**

Below the line of text were three images that made Daiki’s heart beat with excitement. In the first one Kagami was running around the court with a focused look on his face. The second one was of him intercepting a pass and the third one, the third one was Daiki’s favourite. Kagami was coming down from above and smashing the ball through the hoop, his intense red eyes locking onto the camera. Yes that one set Daiki’s skin on fire.

“Alright everyone on court, Aomine you’re on the no bibs team,” Wakamatsu called, his voice ringing around the gym.

Daiki looked up from his phone and quickly searched for pink hair.

“Oi, Satsuki,” he called spotting her and running over. “Take photos of me while I’m playing.”

“What...Dai-chan I’m busy,” she pouted.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said shoving his phone into her hands as he felt Wakamatsu glaring at him to get on the court. “Make sure they’re good ones too.”

“Dai-chan...”

“Only take cool ones alright? Like when I do an awesome shot.”

Satsuki sighed, “Alright, alright, just get on court already.”

Daiki grinned and ran onto the court eagerly, his teammates giving him odd looks.

**____________________________**

As the ball swished through the net Daiki instantly spun around to find Satsuki standing on the side lines with his phone in her hands.

“Did you get, did you get?” he asked bounding over. “Did you capture all of my awesomeness?”

Satsuki gave him a weird look but showed him the photo she’d just taken.

“Ah, it needs to be cooler than that,” he sighed, “try again.”

“Aomine get your ass back on court,” Wakamatsu yelled.

“Dai-chan I’ll take lots of photos so stop interrupting the game,” Satsuki said taking the phone back off him. “You can look at all of them at the end.”

“Alright,” he said a bit deflated, “but make sure that they’re really good, okay.”

“Yes, yes, now don’t come back off the court until the end of the game,” Satsuki ordered.

**____________________________**

“Alright everyone that’s enough for today,” Aida-san called ending practice, “gather round please.”

The team, still panting, grabbed their water bottles and assembled around their coach as she gave them feedback on their training.

“Alright, now that that’s all out of the way, there’s something else I’d like to discuss with you,” she said as the boys began their cool down stretches. “As you have all probably noticed, the cherry blossoms have started blooming. So I was thinking, why not go and view them all together this year? I think Hanami would be a great chance to socialise as a team. Is everyone free this Sunday?”

“Yes!” everyone coursed together.

The boys all looked at each other with smiles and excitement as a happy babble broke out amongst them. Kagami, however, side stepped over to Tetsuya and whispered in the boy’s ear.

“Oi Kuroko, what’s Hanami?”

Tetsuya stared up at the other boy in disbelief, “Kagami-kun, have you never done flower viewing before?”

“Not that I can remember,” the boy admitted. “Is it complicated?”

Tetsuya sighed at Kagami-kun’s lack of knowledge on Japanese traditions and events, “During the Spring when the cherry blossoms are blooming, people go to have picnics underneath them. This is called Hanami.”

“So we’re having a picnic?” Kagami-kun asked.

“Yes.”

Their coach managed to quieten everyone down, then began listing off jobs for people.

“Kagami-kun, Mitobe-kun, Kogane-kun, and Izuki-kun will be in charge of cooking,” she announced. “Hyuuga, Kiyoshi,Tsuchida-kun, and I will be in charge of bringing beverages. Fukuda-kun, Furihata-kun, and Kawahara-kun, you three will be in charge of bringing rugs and finding us a good spot for viewing. Is everyone happy with their jobs?”

Tetsuya had to smile at this. He wasn’t even trying to be invisible at the moment but it seemed that the coach had forgotten about him again. You’d think that playing as a starter on the same team for a year would make you a bit more memorable.

“What job should I do?” Tetsuya asked stepping forward.

Aida-san and the rest of the team jumped backwards at his ‘sudden appearance’.

“Ah, Kuroko, sorry I forgot about you,” she admitted scratching the back of her head. “Why don’t you help Furihata’s group with staking out a Hanami spot?”

Tetsuya nodded as everyone then began to discuss what they should bring.

“Ah, coach.....is it alright if we invite other people as well or is this solely a team outing?” Tsuchida-kun asked.

“I guess more is merrier,” she said thinking. “Who were you thinking of inviting?”

“Ah...well...my girlfriend if that’s ok?” Tsuchida-kun said nervously.

The gym exploded with whoops and cheers as everyone got excited about possibly meeting Tsuchida’s famous girlfriend.

“Alright, alright, calm down,” their coach said raising her voice over the top of them. “Let’s make it that other people are welcome too as long as they bring something to contribute.”

Everyone responded with agreement as the meeting was drawn to a close and people began heading to the locker room.

**____________________________**

Daiki was feeling pretty smug at the moment as he stood in the locker room changing. Satsuki had actually done a pretty good job so he’d sent Kagami a reply with two awesome pictures attached as soon as they’d finished practice, bragging how he was at the top of his game at the moment. He’d just finished buttoning up his school shirt when his phone vibrated on the locker’s shelf in front of him.

**From: Bakagami**

**To: Me**

**Looking good Aho ;)**

Daiki almost dropped his phone as his eyes continuously kept re-reading the message. What the fuck Bakagami! You can’t say that after someone sends you a picture of themselves, and what was the winking face for? Was Kagami trying to flirt with him? Daiki felt as though his heart was going at a million miles per hour. How was he meant to respond to this message?

As it felt as though his brain was going to explode an image of Satsuki popped into his head. Yeah she’d know what it meant. Hastily putting on the rest of his clothes and shoving all of his belongings into his bag, he made a dash out of the locker room in search of his childhood friend, ignoring the startled remarks of his team mates.

He didn’t have to go far though as he rounded a corner of the gym and saw that she too was running to meet him, excitement etched across her face.

“Dai-chan, Dai-chan, guess what?” she squealed coming to a stop in front of him. “Tetsu-kun just invited me to join him for Hanami!”

“What, really? That’s co....no damn it, Satsuki, I’ve got a problem,” Daiki said shaking his head and holding out Kagami’s message for her. “How am I meant to respond to this? Do you think he’s trying to flirt with me?”

Satsuki tilted her head to the side slightly as she read the message.

“Mmmm, I dunno. Let me ask Tetsu-kun.”

Daiki nodded as he chewed on the bottom of his lip; waiting.

The sound of Satsuki’s phone chiming indicated that she’d received a reply. He watched as she opened the message with a smile on her face, and he also watched as the smile fell.

“Ah, yeah, sorry Dai-chan, apparently that’s a normal thing for him to do,” she said sadly, showing him Tetsu’s message.

**From: Tetsu-kun**

**To: Me**

**Tell Aomine-kun not to get his hopes up. Kagami-kun does that to me sometimes and also to other members of the team too. He puts in the winking face when he’s trying to show he’s happy. It’s something I think Himuro Tatsuya taught him back in the states. We’ve tried explaining it to him and we’re in the process of getting him to use different emojis but it seems he’s still doing it every now and then.**

Daiki felt himself physically deflate and then fill with anger.

“Who the fuck is Himuro Tatsuya?” he growled as Satsuki took her phone back.

“Kagamin’s brother, remember?” she said pointing to her neck, indicating the spot where Kagami’s ring would normally rest on his chest.

“Oh, that guy,” Daiki said bitterly as he remembered how much he hated the emo looking pretty boy, who always seemed to be a little too close to Kagami for Daiki’s liking.

“Sorry Dai-chan,” Satsuki said, looking up at him.

“Its fine,” he said waving her concern away and pretending not to care.

He should have known that Kagami was too much of an idiot to be able to flirt through text. The Bakagami probably couldn’t even flirt in real life. Sighing, Daiki was about to put his phone away when it vibrated again. Flipping it open he saw that it was another message from Kagami. Fuck, had Tetsu made a big deal about it to that idiot? He really hoped not. Groaning slightly, he opened the message.

**From: Bakagami**

**To: Me**

**Also are you free this Sunday? Our team’s doing Hanami if you wanted to come. You have to bring something though.**

Daiki blinked at the message and then tilted his head as though reading it from a different angle would change what was written. Hanami? Wasn’t that what Tetsu had invited Satsuki to?

“Oi Satsuki, isn’t this what you’re going to?” Daiki asked, holding the message up for her to read.

“Yep. Did Kagamin invite you?” she asked smiling as she read the message.

“Ah, yeah,” he said awkwardly reading the message again.

“What’s wrong?” Satsuki asked seeming to sense that something was bothering him.

“Well...it’s just...Kagami’s never invited...me...to anything...other than to play basketball,” Daiki said rubbing the back of his neck. “Feels...weird...”

Satsuki beamed up at him.

“I know you just got your hopes up and then got let down but I think this is a good sign Dai-chan,” she said with excitement in her eyes.

Daiki grumbled to himself as he felt a blush creep onto his cheeks.

 “Seriously Satsuki, don’t say shit like that.”

Satsuki just giggled as Daiki tried to calm down.Today had been a very up and down day. Way too much for Daiki’s liking.

“So, are you going to go?” she asked once Daiki felt as though he had control of his face once again.

“Yeah I’ll go,” he said looking down at his phone and typing in his answer out for Kagami.

“Great! This’ll be so much fun!” Satsuki said happily linking arms with him as he finished his message. “What do you think we should bring?”

“Gravure magazines.”

“Dai-chan!”

“I was joking,” he muttered, “...kind of...”

Arguing over what was a suitable gift to bring to such an event, they continued their conversation as they left the school, both hoping for the best on Sunday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay another chapter done ^_^
> 
> I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for waiting so patiently for me to return and I can't wait to hear from you all again :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone :D  
> Here is the Hanami Chapter that I promised ^_^
> 
> Please enjoy ~

April 2nd:

Midorima Shintarou was not pleased, to say the least. He had agreed to attend the Hanami event and that was all. Takao, however, seemed to have agreed to something else as they pulled up to Kagami’s apartment building in their bike and cart.

“Oi Takao, this isn’t the place that we agreed to meet Kuroko,” Shintarou declared in annoyance as his teammate got off the bike to make sure that the brakes were on.

“Relax Shin-chan,” the raven haired boy replied with a grin, “we’re only making a quick stop. Kagami asked me to help bring along all the food that he made.”

“Since when do you have Kagami’s number?” Shintarou asked, feeling an eyebrow twitch as he got out of the back of the cart.

“Since about January,” Takao said, happily. “Don’t worry Shin-chan, you’re still my number one. There’s no need to get jealous.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shintarou said adjusting his glasses as a slow warmth spread across his face.

Takao just grinned as they made their way up to Kagami’s place.

**____________________________**

Daiki’s hands fidgeted in his pockets as he and Satsuki walked through the park under the cherry blossom trees. To say that he was nervous would be an understatement. He didn’t know how he was meant to hang out with Kagami, for however many hours this event took, without a basketball between them. Everything that they did together revolved around their one-on-one matches.

“Dai-chan, you’re being really quiet today,” Satsuki pointed out as they walked along the main path. “Are you worrying about what you’re going to say to Kagamin?”

Daiki gritted his teeth; he hated when she was able to read him like this. It made him worry that other people were able to do it too. Choosing not to say anything, he bit the inside of his lip instead.

Satsuki let out a long sigh. “Seriously Dai-chan you’ve hung out with him before, I don’t know what you’re so worried about?”

“This time is different,” Daiki muttered, “There’s no basketball.”

“Oh please, you’ve met up without a basketball before,” Satsuki said with exasperation. “We went to the shrine on New Year’s together and that didn’t have any basketball involved.”

“And do you remember how well that went?” Daiki asked sarcastically.

Satsuki just sighed again. “Dai-chan it’ll be fine.You even told me that Kagamin said that he likes hanging out with you. Stop worrying!”

Daiki glared at her as he shoved his hands even further into his pockets.

“But...what should I even talk about?” he mumbled.

“Seriously Dai-chan? Anything you want to talk about. Talk about the weather if you have to,” Satsuki said losing patience with him. “But I’m not helping you today.”

“What? Why?” Daiki asked in panic. “You’ve got to help me.”

“No!” she said firmly as she looked up at him. “I’m spending time with Tetsu-kun today so if you want to talk to Kagamin you’ll have to do it yourself.”

“Satsuki.......”

“No,” she said flicking her head away from him with that stubborn attitude of hers. “You need to be able to deal with these situations yourself.”

Daiki glared at her. “And if I fuck up and ruin everything that’s happened so far?”

“Then that’s your fault,” Satsuki said, with no sympathy.

Daiki felt like shaking the woman and demanding that she not abandon him like this when the sound of a bike bell rang out behind them. Moving to the side of the path Daiki began to seriously consider heading home to avoid the mountain of embarrassment that he was sure he’d cause for himself today when suddenly something hard whacked him over the back of the head.

“Oi, what the f...” Daiki began as a bike and cart rode past them with flashes of green and red protruding from it.

Hanging out the back of the cart, and obviously the thing that had whacked him, was Kagami, grinning and waving as they rode away.

“Bastard...” Daiki muttered rubbing the back of his head as a small smile tugged at his lips.

Satsuki giggled next to him.

“What?” Daiki asked in irritation.

“See Dai-chan, you’ll be fine,” she said still laughing slightly. “Kagamin seems really happy that you’re here.”

Daiki clenched his hands and tried to bury his face into the collar of his hoodie as he felt a warm blush fill his cheeks.

Satsuki just laughed even louder.

**____________________________**

They arrived about fifteen minutes later at the designated site which was made up of several large picnic rugs. Instantly spotting Kagami’s crimson red hair, Daiki marched himself over to where the boy was unpacking the cart.

“That fucking hurt Bakagami,” Daiki said as he took his turn to whack Kagami over the back of the head.

“Ha-ha, I didn’t hit you that hard,” Kagami chuckled turning around to face Daiki, while gripping his new sore spot.

“You totally did, bastard,” Daiki argued. “I’ve got a lump on the back of my head now thanks to you.”

“As if,” Kagami laughed, reaching out and patting that part of Daiki’s head. “See, there’s nothing there. Stop being a wuss.”

Daiki froze and felt his breath stop as Kagami’s fingers lightly brushed his hair.

“I...I’m not,” he managed to stutter out as he knocked Kagami’s hand away.

He then turned around to make a quick exit.

“Hey, don’t run off,” Kagami said. “Help me unpack the cart.”

Daiki would have told Kagami to stick it and sulked off somewhere if he hadn’t at that moment caught Tetsu and Satsuki glaring at him from across the gathering. Shit. Right. He was meant to be ‘hanging out’ with Kagami today. Begrudgingly he turned back around and started helping Kagami unpack what appeared to be a large selection of Tupperware containers filled with what Daiki hoped was the other boy’s cooking.

While they emptied the cart and placed the food in the centre of the rugs Daiki became quite proud of himself for being able to continuously keep the conversation going between the two of them. Sure they didn’t talk about anything of importance, but still, he felt quite pleased with the amount of effort that he put in.

As they were placing the last few containers on the rugs however Daiki’s least favourite person showed up; Kagami’s way too up-close-and-personal ‘brother’. He didn’t like the guy, and would even go so far as to say that he hated him.

Daiki watched in irritation as Kagami went over to greet his brother. They smiled and laughed as they exchanged ‘hello’s in English; another fact that made his eye twitch. It was that language barrier that made it so hard for Daiki to drag Kagami away from the bastard. He had never really bothered to learn English at school, which made it hard for him to judge when the right time to inject himself into their conversation was. Not to mention that he felt as though the asshole talked to Kagami in English on purpose to exclude him.

Yes, Daiki definitely didn’t like this guy.

**____________________________**

Tetsuya smiled as he watched Aomine-kun half march, half run, over to join the brother’s conversation as he saw Murasakibara-kun arrive next to the small group with food in his mouth.

“Is something amusing you Kuroko?”

Tetsuya turned back to his conversation with Akashi-kun, his usual blank expression back on his face.

“Yes, just slightly,”

Akashi-kun glanced past him to the oddly assembled group and smiled softly.

“Mmm, that is quite interesting,” he admitted, bring his attention back to Tetsuya. “How long has that been going on for?”

“Since about January,” Tetsuya admitted, “and it’s progressing......slowly.”

“Kagami obviously hasn’t noticed.”

“No, thankfully Kagami-kun is oblivious,” Tetsuya sighed. “He doesn’t seem to notice much in the way of romance.”

Akashi-kun’s calculating eyes briefly flicked back to the group.

“Maybe he doesn’t notice because he’s not interested,” Akashi-kun suggested, looking Tetsuya in the eye.

Tetsuya held his former captains gaze as he took a deep breath.

“Yes I have thought about that,” he admitted.

“And am I right in assuming that Aomine didn’t discover these feelings on his own?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

There was silence for a moment as they both regarded one another.

“I hope you’re prepared to deal with the outcome should it not prove favourable.”

“I am,” Tetsuya nodded knowing that if Aomine-kun were to be rejected then it could end what little friendship he was building up with Kagami-kun. “However Aomine-kun is very hesitant at the moment and he is against expressing his feelings.”

“That can be both good and bad,” Akashi-kun said thinking. “If he waits too long he may develop feelings beyond a crush.”

“Yes I agree.”

It was then that Aida-san called to everyone to come and start enjoying the food.

“Mmm, this interests me Kuroko,” Akashi-kun admitted as they made their way over to the pile of food in the middle of the picnic rugs. “Please keep me informed.”

Tetsuya nodded as Momoi-san came running over to sit with them, a camera in her hands.

**____________________________**

As everyone sat down around the food, Daiki made sure that he got a spot right next to Kagami. There was no way he was going to let the one-eyed jerk take all of Kagami’s attention today.

“Oi Kagami, which ones did you make?” he asked as, to his annoyance, he noticed the brother take a seat on Kagami’s other side.

“I made these,” Kagami said handing Daiki a container that appeared to have pink mochi inside. “They’re Sakura mochi. I also made those and that one and the one that Midorima just picked up, pretty much anything that has a blue lid on it.”

“Cool,” Daiki said as he grabbed another container with a blue lid.

“You planning on just eating my food?” Kagami laughed as Daiki began shoving food into his mouth.

Daiki felt a blush creep across his full cheeks as he glared at Kagami. Swallowing, he couldn’t help his cocky side from emerging.

“Well, they say that everyone has at least one thing that they’re good at in life,” Daiki said in his best haughty tone, “and since you suck at basketball, I guess yours is cooking.”

Kagami choked on the sandwich that he’d been stuffing into his mouth and turned his unamused gaze onto Daiki.

“I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted,” he said dryly.

Daiki shrugged but began mentally kicking himself for ruining their pleasant mood. He just couldn’t help himself. As he snuck a glance over at Kagami to see how badly he’d fucked up though, he could have sworn that the red head’s cheeks where slightly tinted pink.

Daiki stared as he realised that he’d never seen Kagami blush before. He’d seen him red in the face from exhaustion, but never like this.This was different. It was.....well........kind of...cute.

“So since you seem to suck at basketball about as much as I do,” Kagami began, as he turned back to Daiki with a cheeky grin, “what’s your special skill?”

“My...my what?” Daiki stuttered as he pulled himself back to their conversation.

“You know, what are you good at besides basketball?”

Daiki’s mind went blank. Shit. What was he good at? Reading gravure magazines in public?

_That’s not a skill you idiot!_

As Kagami stared at him, Daiki furiously tried to make his brain work. He liked the outdoors...

“I’m good at catching things,” was what tumbled from his lips before he could stop himself.

_Fuck that sounds so stupid!_

“Catching things...” Kagami repeated, tilting his head slightly in confusion. “Like what?”

“Ah...cicadas......and crayfish,” Daiki mumbled, wishing that he’d thought up something cooler to say.

“Oh...right........fish too?” Kagami asked as he seemed genuinely interested.

“Ah yeah, I can catch fish as well,” Daiki confirmed, a bit taken back by Kagami’s lack of teasing.

“Awesome, we could go camping or something,” Kagami said in excitement.

“I guess.....” Daiki said a bit puzzled.

Kagami’s brother chose that moment to join their conversation.

“Ah, like when we were back in the States, Taiga?”

“Yeah, do you remember when you, me and Alex would go on long drives and then camp on the beach for the night?”

Beauty spot boy nodded, glanced at Daiki and then began talking to Kagami in English.

_Are you fucking kidding me?_

Daiki had been right. The asshole was doing it on purpose.

When Kagami laughed at something his ‘brother’ said, Daiki lost his patience.

“Oi Murasakibara,” Daiki called to the purple haired giant who was sitting beside the emo looking bastard, “how do you deal with them talking in English all the time?”

Murasakibara looked up at him with a mouth full of food and then over at the two ‘brother’s before shrugging.

“We have a lot of foreigners at our school,” he said between bites, “so I’m used to it.”

Daiki grinded his teeth and glared at his failed ally.

“Sorry Aomine,” Kagami said switching back to Japanese, “I don’t even realise I’m doing it sometimes.”

_No, but he certainly does,_ Daiki thought bitterly as he glared at the pleasant smiling bastard.

“If you want I could teach you some English,” Kagami offered.

Daiki would normally have rejected such an offer. However, at that moment the pretty boy’s fake smile faltered for just a second giving Daiki an idea on how to take back the conversation.

“Yeah alright,” he said, “teach me some now. Like.....what’s this in English?”

As Kagami pronounced the foreign words Daiki mimicked them back, enjoying the other boy’s undivided attention. He also enjoyed how every time the ‘brother’ tried to drag the conversation back to himself Daiki would find something new to ask Kagami to translate. Finally his opponent seemed to admit defeat as he turned around to converse with Murasakibara; and boy did Daiki gloat to himself.

**____________________________**

As it got later in the afternoon people started heading home one by one until finally all who were left decided to retire for the day as well. While they were getting to their feet Akashi called them all over to discuss something. It was mainly the Generation of Miracles who formed up the group with a few extras as it seemed that all of Seirin had left except for Tetsu and Kagami.

“Hello everyone, thank you for taking a moment,” Akashi began, “As you all may know, Golden Week is coming up soon. I know you’ve probably already made family plans however I just wanted to note that Momoi’s birthday falls on May fourth and I think we should celebrate. Do you all agree?”

“Oh that’s ok,” Satsuki said hurriedly as a blush spread across her cheeks. “You don’t have to do that.”

“What are you saying Momoicchi? Of course we’ll celebrate your birthday.”

“You always make an effort to celebrate ours, so I think it’s only fair,” Midorima stated adjusting his glasses.

“Just don’t expect me to get you anything,” Daiki said with a smile.

“Dai-chan!”

“Eh, does that mean we have to travel to Tokyo again?” Murasakibara asked. “Don’t wanna. It’s too far.”

“Come on Murasakibaracchi,” Kise begged, “It’s for Momoicchi who always does so much for us.”

“Eh....but it’s so far to come for just one day.”

“We were also thinking of going to the children’s day festival the next day,” Tetsu put, in trying to sway the large giant.

“..................”

“You and Tatsuya can stay at my place if you’d like?” Kagami offered, much to Daiki’s dislike.

“Why would I wanna do that?”

“Because Taiga would be cooking all our meals,” the pretty boy pointed out, again to Daiki’s dislike. “You seemed to really like his food today.”

“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm................................alright................”

Everyone cheered at the joining of the final miracle.

**____________________________**

As they began to pack up, even with the knowledge that Kagami would be spending Golden Week with his brother, Daiki felt great. So great, in fact, that he even volunteered to help Kagami gather up the leftovers. It had been a really good day!

Just as they were putting the last of the containers into the cart Kise came skipping over to them.

“Say cheese,” he said holding a camera up to their faces.

“Huh?” Daiki said, staring at the sudden appearance of the media device.

Kagami, who was standing next to him, swung his arm over Daiki’s shoulder and held up the peace sign to the lens.

“Cheese,” he said, grinning like an idiot.

Daiki stared at Kagami. He could feel the heat from the closeness of their bodies starting to creep onto his face. Then he heard the shutter click.

“O...oi,” he said spinning his head back around to Kise. “Take it again.....I wasn’t ready.”

“Sheesh, Aominecchi, I said ‘say cheese’,” Kise pouted a little.

“Just take it again, alright,”

“Alright, alright,”

Daiki copied Kagami and swung his arm over the other boys shoulder.

“You ready this time?”

He nodded and attempted to smile at the camera as he tried to ignore the bumping of their hips.

“Say cheese!” Kise repeated.

“Cheese,” they said together.

Click.

“Aominecchi you’re too stiff,” Kise whined, checking the back of the camera.

_Well what the fuck do you expect? I’m standing here with my arms around Kagami’s shoulder and you’re asking me to act natural?_

“Mmm, I feel like a cheeseburger now,” Kagami mumbled next to Daiki’s ear.

“What?” Daiki asked blinking at the redhead.

“Saying cheese reminded me that I haven’t had a cheeseburger in a while and now I want one,” he stated as if that was the most logical jump he could have made.

“But we just ate?” Daiki stated.

“Yeah, what’s your point?”

Daiki stared at the honest, blinking Kagami.

Click.

“Do you ever think of anything other than food?” he asked dryly.

“Yeah, basketball,” Kagami responded without skipping a beat.

Daiki couldn’t help the chuckle that started in the back of his throat and then slowly turned in a rumbling, full body laugh.

Click.

“You....you really are....a basketball idiot aren’t you?” he laughed as he gasped for air.

“I like food and basketball what’s wrong with that?” Kagami asked, a little confused.

“Nothing, nothing,” Daiki smiled as he began to calm back down.

Click.

“Just.....don’t ever change Kagami. Don’t ever change.”

Kagami looked at him with a raised eyebrow before Kise called for them to look at the camera again. As they looked back into the lens, Daiki felt a genuine smile spread across his cheeks while he gripped Kagami’s shoulder slightly.

_Don’t ever change._

Click.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you guys all think?
> 
> I put a bit more focus on the other GOM members in this chapter so I hope I got them fairly accurate ........>.>.......
> 
> Anyway let me know down in the comments ^_^ and I'll see you all again for Satsuki's Birthday on May 4th ;)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone ^_^  
> I'd like to start by saying Happy Birthday Momoi :D  
> Aomine would be lost without you XD
> 
> Now please enjoy Satsuki's birthday ~

May 4th:

Daiki sat on the edge of the shrine steps with his chin resting in his hands as Tetsu stood next to him. He was, once again, at an event far more early than ha needed to be and all because he hadn’t seen Kagami in weeks, not even for basketball, since school had been getting hectic for both of them. In order to stop himself from pacing around in anticipation he’d forced himself to sit down on the cool stone steps.

The weather had been getting warmer lately. Summer was just around the corner and today, it seemed, was one of those warmer days. Daiki could already feel sweat sliding down his back. Maybe he should have sat in the shade.

“Dai-chan! Tetsu-kun!”

Daiki looked up to see Satsuki’s bright pink hair weaving through a crowd of people to join them.

“Good morning Momoi-san,” Tetsu said with a pleasant smile as Satsuki arrived. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you Tetsu-kun,” she said, a soft blush spread across her face.

“Yo, Happy Birthday,” Daiki said, standing up so that he could pat her on the head.

“Thanks Dai-chan,” she said with a giggle, softly knocking his hand away. “Although I’m surprised to see you here this early. You do know that we’re not meant to be meeting for another ten minutes.”

“Hey, it’s your birthday,” Daiki said defensively, “I’m not going to be late for you birthday.”

“Daiki you’ve never once been on time for my birthday,” Satsuki said dryly, “even though we’re practically neighbours.”

“Yeah....well....why dwell on the past?”

Satsuki raised a very sceptical eyebrow at him.

“I think he got too excited about seeing Kagami-kun again,” Tetsu offered.

“You know,” Satsuki said, “that makes a lot of sense.”

“Tetsu,” Daiki growled at the realisation that he’d been found out. “For once why can’t you be on my side?”

“I am on your side Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said as he blankly looked up at him. “By the way when were you planning on asking Kagami-kun out?”

Daiki grinded his teeth as Satsuki fell into a giggle fit.

“Never,” he hissed.

For the first time ever he was pretty sure that he saw Tetsu roll his eyes.

“Oh yeah,” Satsuki said as she recovered from her laughter and dove into her bag. “Here are the photos from the Hanami event last month.”

Out of her bag she brought a pile of envelopes and handed one to each of them. Taking the envelope with his name on it, Daiki opened the paper package and pulled out a bundle of images. As he flicked through them, he felt his heart start pounding in his chest as he realised that they were all photos of him and Kagami together. He smiled at the memory of one of the photos that showed Kagami and him pointing at a fork; the red head obviously teaching him the English word for it.

“These are great Satsuki,” Daiki smiled as he flipped through some more.

“I know. Don’t you and Kagamin look cute together?” she squealed.

Daiki blanched, “I wouldn’t say that.....”

Satsuki peeked at the photos that he was looking at.

“No not those ones,” she said grabbing the pile off him and sorting the pictures at the front further to the back. “These ones, the ones that Ki-chan took of you two.”

Daiki felt heat rise in him as he remembered the scene.

As Satsuki shoved the photos back into his hands he knew that his cheeks had become very red. The image he was now looking at was of the two of them, Kagami with his hand around his shoulder and him staring at Kagami with a flushed face. Fuck, it was so obvious that he had a crush on him.

“Hey Satsuki,” he said weakly. “You didn’t give these to Kagami did you?”

“No, just the last one,” she said with a knowing smile.

Daiki flicked through the remainder of the photos, passing the one of him awkwardly putting his arm around Kagami’s shoulder to the one of him with a confused look on his face as Kagami, if he remembered correctly, was talking about cheeseburgers. He finally came to the last image of him and Kagami grinning at the camera like idiots with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Daiki felt his insides go all fuzzy as a ridiculously happy grin spread across his face. He’d have to actually thank Kise later.

Looking up he saw Tetsu and Satsuki watching him with a peaceful look on their faces.

“What....?” he asked as he blushed again and began sliding the images back into the envelope.

“It’s just....” Satsuki began awkwardly.

“It’s nice to see you smiling properly again,” Tetsu said gently.

Daiki blushed harder as he pushed the envelope into his pocket. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

“That we’re really happy for you.”

“What are you two; my parents or something?”

The two shrugged and then smiled again.

Daiki just narrowed his eyes at them as other people started to arrive.

**____________________________**

Daiki heard Kagami before he saw him.

“Get the fuck off me would ya?”

This caused him to instantly spin around to find out who was harassing the man and was met with a rather hilarious sight.

Kagami was walking towards them with his ‘brother’ at his side and what appeared to be Murasakibara draping his giant body over the red head’s shoulders.

Daiki smiled, as casually as he could, before walking over to them.

“Morning,” he said in greeting, his thumbs hooked in his pockets.

“Ah, morning Mine-chin,” Murasakibara said, a lollipop protruding from his mouth.

“Oi, Aomine, get this guy off me.”

Daiki looked down at the bent over Kagami who was currently sporting a very peeved look and laughed softly.

“Don’t laugh,” the red head barked in annoyance. “He’s fucking heavy.”

“Come on Atsushi that enough,” the black haired boy said gently.

“NO,” Murasakibara said quickly tightening his grip on Kagami. “Kaga-chin is coming back to Akita with me.”

Upon hearing this Daiki instantly didn’t find the situation amusing anymore.

“No one’s taking my rival anywhere,” he said challenging the purple giant. “What do you want him to go to Akita with you for anyway?”

“I want Kaga-chin to cook for me every day.”

“Not going to happen,” Daiki stated. “I need him to play basketball with me.”

“Mmmmmm............you can have him on weekends then,” the oversized boy said trying to barter.

“Ha-ha this is turning into a custody battle,” the beauty mark ‘brother’ laughed.

“Don’t encourage them,” Kagami growled. “Look Murasaskibara you have Tatsuya and he can cook just as well as I can.”

“Thank you Taiga.”

“But he doesn’t know how to make those....those things that you made for desert last night.”

“If I give Tatsuya the recipe then he can make them for you whenever you want,” Kagami tried.

“Mmmmm..................”

“And I’ll make you bentos for you to take on your trip home.”

Daiki watched in relief as Murasakibara slowly detached himself from Kagami.

“Make sure you give Muro-chin the recipe,” he grumbled.

“I will, I will,” Kagami sighed as he straightened up and stretched out his back.

Daiki chuckled at the motion.

Kagami’s unamused eyes rounded on him, “And you weren’t much help were you.”

“Hey what did you want me to do against the giant?” Daiki asked with a grin on his face.

“Giant my ass, he’s only like ten centimetres taller than you,” Kagami said, rolling his eyes as they started walking back towards the shrine steps.

“More closer to twenty centimetres idiot,” Daiki sniggered, “I’m guessing that you failed your math test then?”

“Shut it asshole,” the red head said giving him a little push.

Daiki laughed again and was relieved to see a small smile on Kagami’s lips too.

“So when are we going to play basketball again?” he asked trying to shift the conversation back to what they were both familiar with.

“How about next Sunday.........the 14th?” the red head offered.

Daiki physically felt his face droop. “Sunday’s so far away, that’s like, more than a whole week.”

Kagami rolled his eyes at Daiki’s whiney attitude.

“Taiga, if you want I can come and play basketball with you on the 14th,” the annoying ‘brother’ offered.

Daiki definitely didn’t like the sound of that.

“Oh....well.....Tokyo’s kinda far for you to travel for just one day,” Kagami said, scratching the back of his head.

“It’s fine, I’ll play basketball with you,” Daiki interjected, not wanting the two to be spending any more time together than was necessary. “I didn’t say that I wouldn’t.”

Kagami laughed, “See, it’s fine Tatsuya. Aomine says he’ll play.”

“I can still come down to visit if you like? Perhaps stay the night?”

Daiki felt his shoulders tense. What the fuck was this guy’s problem?

“Tatsuya it’s fine, I promise,” Kagami chuckled lightly.

The emo, fringed boy studied Kagami for a moment before nodding slowly.

“Just remember that if you need anything you can call me,” he offered one last time.

Kagami nodded and, to Daiki’s relief, that appeared to be the end of their conversation.

He seriously didn’t understand what was up with that guy. Why did he constantly act as though he was shielding Kagami from him? It pissed Daiki off to no end. Mainly because that’s what he also wanted to do; shield Kagami from everyone fucking else. Which, when he thought about it, was kind of borderline obsessive, wasn’t it?

Daiki deflated a little. Ha, he wanted to keep Kagami to himself and yet he couldn’t even find the nerve to ask the idiot out.

 _You’re such a loser Daiki,_ he mentally growled at himself as he kicked a pebble off the path.

He wondered if Kagami would even date him if he asked.

....

....

Probably not......

They were just starting to become proper friends and he doubted that if he told Kagami his feelings it would end well. He’d probably gross the other boy out.

Daiki sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

“What’s wrong,” Kagami asked next to him.

_Just my stupid emotions hitting the walls of reality._

“Nothing,” he chose to say instead.

“Look, I’ve got another test on Monday which I have to study for and a project due on Friday,” Kagami began, “I can’t fail them. So that’s why I can’t play basketball with you until next week.”

Daiki turned to look at the red head who wore a concerned expression, which caused him to smile. This idiot really does just think about basketball doesn’t he? Daiki bet that even if he did tell Kagami his feelings they wouldn’t penetrate the idiot’s thick skull.

 _Why do I like this idiot again?_ He chuckled to himself.

“I said it’s fine, stupid,” Daiki smiled giving Kagami a gentle shove with his shoulder.

Kagami smiled and gently shoved him back.

It was then that Daiki noticed a large cooler bag slung over the red heads opposite shoulder.

“What’s in the bag?”

Kagami glanced down at his luggage.

“Satsuki’s birthday present,” he stated.

“Eh, what’d you get her?”

“I made her a strawberry cake,” Kagami said, unzipping the top to show Daiki the goods.

Daiki felt his mouth water.

“Where’s my cake?” he asked as Kagami zipped the bag back up.

“Ain’t your birthday asshole.”

“Sooooo, does that mean you’ll make me one for my birthday then?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Kagami rolled his eyes. “Sure, what flavour do you want?”

“Chocolate,” he said with a toothy grin, “and it has to have strawberries and cream on top too.”

“Anything else, princess?” Kagami sniggered.

Daiki felt heat swell in his cheeks before he mumbled out, “and I wanna eat ice-cream with it too.”

“Chocolate ice-cream?”

“No.....vanilla.”

“Ha-ha, alright, so one chocolate cake with strawberries and cream on top and vanilla ice-cream on the side?”

Daiki nodded as he chewed the inside of his lip with embarrassment. Kagami was going to make him a cake on his birthday? Sure his birthday wasn’t for what....another three months or so, but fuck it made him incredibly happy.

Happy enough to ask Kagami out.................maybe.............

**____________________________**

“Oi, Aomine what are you going to write for your wish?” Kagami asked.

Daiki looked up from where he’d been intently staring at his wooden plaque trying to figure out what to wish for. They’d just been to do prayers and get their fortunes; Daiki’s hadn’t been that great, but of course Midorima’s had been perfect.

“Dunno,” he shrugged.

Was wishing for Kagami to be his boyfriend too much?

At the thought of it Daiki’s cheeks burned. Yeah, probably too much.

“Dai-chan, make sure you don’t wish for anything stupid this time,” Satsuki’s motherly tone sounded behind him.

“I wasn’t going to,” he growled, turning on her.

“Why, what’s he wished for in the past?” Kagami asked.

“None of your business,” Daiki huffed.

“Well......one year he wanted to be Mai-chan’s boyfriend,” Satsuki began, “and then another year—”

“Satsuki!” Daiki yelled as his face dipped a deep shade of red. “Don’t tell him!”

It was too late though as Kagami began to laugh.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha, what...........what else.........did he wish for?” the red head asked gasping for air.

Daiki instantly covered his soon to be ex-childhood friend’s mouth.

“Well when we were in middle school he wished for a big boobed girlfriend,” Tetsu said appearing beside them.

“Damn it Tetsu!” Daiki yelled as Kagami lost it laughing again.

“There was also that time when you stupidly wished for the school to be destroyed,” Midorima said, joining their group.

“I fucking hate all of you right now,” Daiki growled in embarrassment.

“Oh, oh, Aominecchi, do you remember that time you—”

“Not another word,” Daiki hissed using his free hand to cover the blond’s mouth too.

Kagami meanwhile was bent over with his arms clutching his stomach as he let out a bellowing laugh. Daiki wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

Why did he even have friends like these?

“Ha-ha, seriously?” Kagami asked, trying to regain his breath. “Like he actually wrote those wishes down.....on.....on these things?”

Everyone nodded which only caused Kagami to start laughing all over again.

Daiki felt the creeping burn on his face reach all the way to his ears as he mentally cursed at every single one of his damned friends.

Before he could storm off in embarrassment though, Akashi spoke up, “If everyone has finished writing their wishes then perhaps we should head over to the park to celebrate Momoi’s birthday.”

“Ah, hang on,” Kagami said straightening up, “still writing mine.”

“Me too,” Daiki mumbled; though now he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to.

Everyone else chorused that they were done though.

“Kagami-kun, Aomine-kun, why don’t you join us at the park once you’ve finished?” Tetsu suggested.

“Yeah, alright,” Kagami said scratching the back of his head.

As everyone began to move off, Kagami came to stand next to Daiki with a teasing smirk on his face.

“Don’t fucking say anything,” he hissed at the red head.

“Come on, you’ve gotta admit that those are pretty bad wishes,” the other boy grinned.

Daiki gritted his teeth and glared at him.

Instead of laughing again though, he watched as Kagami dropped his smile and shifted awkwardly under his gaze.

“But you know....” he said scratching the back of his head again, “I’ve made some pretty stupid wishes in the past too.”

Daiki’s death glare faulted slightly as he blinked at the red head.Was Kagami trying to cheer him up?

“I mean, I’ve never actually written them down.....but I’m pretty sure there was a time when I wished for my school to get destroyed too.”

“Yeah....?” Daiki asked weakly.

Kagami nodded.

Feeling his confidence come back slightly he asked. “What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever wished for?”

“The stupidest thing.....” Kagami said, thinking, “mmm......I once wished for a never ending cheeseburger.”

Daiki felt the corner of his lips turn up in a smile.

_It’s always food with this guy._

“I also once wished that I could walk around in a giant bubble that would protect me from dogs.”

At that Daiki let out a small chuckle which caused Kagami to smile.

“Thanks,” he said softly.

“Huh, what was that?” Kagami asked glancing at him.

“Nothing,” Daiki smiled.

He couldn’t describe how amazing it felt to have Kagami try and cheer him up.

“Come on let’s finish our wishes,” the red head said.

Daiki nodded as they turned back to stare at their wooden plaques. What did he want to wish for? Kagami to be his; that much was obvious. Though it wasn’t a very practical wish, was it? He was starting to realise that Kagami made him happy, happier than he had been in a long time and he didn’t ever want to lose that. If he asked Kagami out, then he had a giant risk of that actually happening and Daiki didn’t know if he’d be able to deal with it.

Coming to a decision and taking in a deep breath he shakily began to write out his wish.

“Oi, you done?” Kagami asked, breaking through his thoughts.

“Ah, yeah,” Daiki said covering up his wish. “What’d you wish for?”

Kagami smiled and turned his wish over to show him. As Daiki read it though he almost bitterly laughed, as his chances for dating Kagami seemed to continue to drop into oblivion.

**-Kagami Taiga  
I hope nothing ever changes**

“Nothing....?” he asked weakly.

“Yeah I like things the way they are now,” Kagami smiled as he walked over to go and hang up his wish.

Daiki gave a nervous laugh as he glanced back down at his plaque.

“So what’d you wish for?” Kagami asked coming back over.

“Ah nothing much,” Daiki said holding his wish to his chest.

“Come on, I showed you mine.”

“It’s nothing really,” he said as he wrapped his arms around it making sure that Kagami couldn’t wrestle it off him. “I pretty much wrote the same as you anyway.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.........so shoo.......while I go and hang it up.”

“You wished for something stupid didn’t you,” Kagami grinned.

“I didn’t,” Daiki snapped as a blush surfaced on his cheeks. “It’s a private wish. Just....just go wait over there for me........or something.”

Kagami produced a very pouty face.

“Fine,” he finally sighed. “I’ll wait for you by the shrine gates. Don’t take too long.”

Daiki watched as Kagami disappeared into the crowds before wandering around to the other side of the wall to hang up his wish. Making sure that nobody else was watching him he glanced at his wish one last time before sliding the string over the hook in front of him. Letting out a shaky breath he then turned and ran to go and meet up with Kagami at the front gates; the image of his wish still burned into his mind.

**-Aomine Daiki  
Please don’t ever take away my Light.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter :D  
> Let me know what you thought of it down in the comments <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Children's Day Everyone ^_^
> 
> I hope you all like festivals ;D
> 
> Enjoy~

May 5th:

“Oi Satsuki, remind me again why I have to wear this,” Daiki said, extending his arms to stare at the blue yukata that he was wearing.

“Because Dai-chan, everyone agreed to wear one,” Satsuki answered as they made their way down the street.

Daiki sighed, “but I haven’t got any pockets on this one. What am I gonna do with my wallet?”

“Give it here,” Satsuki huffed extending her hand. “I’ll put it in my bag.”

Daiki eyed the small bag that he’d given her for her birthday, wondering if it’d even fit.

“Just don’t spend any of it,” he said as he handed it over.

Satsuki just rolled her eyes at him.

**____________________________**

Murasakibara was the first person he spotted amongst the crowd, his purple hair a beacon for their colourful group. As they moved closer, though, the second person that he noticed was Kagami, who was wearing a similar yukata to Daiki but was shaded in a variety of reds.He also seemed to have a thick yukata coat over the top.

“Yo,” Daiki said in greeting as Satsuki went to tackle Tetsu.

Kagami looked up at him surprise and then down and then up and then down again.

“What’re you doing?” Daiki asked as he resisted the urge to cover himself with his arms while Kagami’s eyes looked him over.

The red head’s forked eyebrows scrunched together as he paused in his observations.

“Just never seen you in a yukata before,” he said, tilting his head slightly. “It’s.......different....”

Daiki felt a small blush creep onto his cheeks. Was different good or bad?

“Well.......the same goes for you.”

Kagami looked down at his clothes and nodded.

“Yeah it feels different as well,” Kagami confirmed. “I’m used to wearing pants or shorts.....it’s kind of.....well....spacious......”

Daiki had to instantly stop his brain from the mental image that it wanted to produce.

“But,” Kagami continued, “I also feel like I’m going to trip over it every five seconds. How do girls walk around in these?”

“Dunno,” Daiki shrugged. “Ask Satsuki.”

Kagami laughed softly causing a small smile to touch Daiki’s lips.

He hoped everything went well today.

**____________________________**

When everyone had arrived they began to make their way down the different stall isles, their feet crushing already flattened grass.

Daiki turned his head left and right as he took in all the sights and different stores; memories of his childhood rushing back in. Even now, when he was almost an adult, he still loved festivals.

“Oi Kise, are there fireworks tonight?” he asked the blond who was jabbering away to Tetsu next to him.

“Yes there are,” Kise answered, turning his enthusiasm onto him. “They start at seven.”

Daiki felt a big grin tug at the corner of his lips. He loved fireworks.

**____________________________**

As they reached the end of the first row of stalls Daiki felt his mouth drool as he spotted a takoyaki stand.

Yes. Festival food.

“Oi, Satsuki give me my wal—”

Though as he turned, he found that she was nowhere in sight.

Where was she?

Actually.......where was anybody?

“Oi Kagami,” he called, spotting the red head’s spiky hair through the crowd. “Where’d everyone go?”

Kagami looked up at him and then around at the crowd; the same as Daiki had done.

“Damn,” the red head muttered as Daiki made his way through the masses to stand next to him. “How’d we lose them?”

“Dunno?” Daiki shrugged as he craned his neck to try and see if they were further up the street.

“Honestly, I lose Kuroko on a regular basis,” Kagami sighed, “but how the fuck did we lose sight of Murasakibara?”

“Beats me,” he grumbled. “Maybe they went down a different section?”

“Yeah....maybe...”

“Ah, this sucks,” Daiki whined. “Satsuki has my wallet.”

“It’s alright, I can pay,” Kagami offered with a shrug.

“Nah, it’s fine,” he mumbled.

That was the last thing he wanted.

“Don’t get me wrong;” the red head said, grinning at him, “you’re going to pay me back once we find everyone again. So, what do you want?”

Daiki smiled but was still about to say ‘nothing’,as he didn’t like the idea of Kagami paying for his things, when his stomach betrayed him and gave off a low rumble, causing the red head to laugh slightly at his stubbornness.

“Come on, I’m hungry too,” Kagami said, looking at him expectantly.

“Fine,” Daiki finally sighed. “I want takoyaki.”

“Alright,” the other boy said with a grin.

With that he grabbed Daiki’s wrist and began moving through the crowd towards the takoyaki stand.

“Oi, oi, what are you doing,” Daiki almost yelled as he tried to wrestle his arm free from the shorter man’s grip.

“I don’t want to lose you as well,” Kagami announced as they manoeuvred around a group of small girls who giggled at the pair of them as they passed.

Daiki felt his face flush. This was too much like a couple, wasn’t it?

As they reached the takoyaki stand, Kagami let go of his wrist and joined the queue.

“How many servings do you want?” he asked reaching for his wallet.

“Ah, two,” Daiki muttered as he softly ran his fingers over the skin where Kagami’s hand had just been; his heart beating wildly in his chest.

He vaguely heard Kagami order six serves of takoyaki before they moved to take a seat at the stall’s table and chairs.

Kagami sat down opposite him and grinned, which made Daiki’s stomach flutter about like crazy. It kind of....well....dare Daiki say it....almost felt as though they were on a date or something. Of course they weren’t, but the very idea of it brought heat to Daiki’s cheeks.

It was all because Kagami had to go and grab his wrist.

He lightly ran his fingers over the spot again wondering if Kagami was like that with other people too. This caused him to pull a face as he realised that Kagami probably treated his ‘brother’ similarly, maybe even Tetsu too. His closeness and casual touching was probably something that he had picked up in America. Yet even though he knew this, Daiki found that he couldn’t stop the warm feeling from spreading throughout his body. Shit, he kind of wanted it to happen again.

He was pulled from his thoughts as Kagami left and came back again; collecting their food and handing two trays to Daiki. Feeling his stomach rumble Daiki wasted no time in plopping a fresh takoyaki in his mouth. Although he soon realised that this was not the smartest thing that he could have done as he felt the sting of a fresh burn on his tongue. Quickly sucking air in and out of his mouth he tried to cool the burning food down before swallowing; noticing that Kagami was mirroring him from across the table as he too appeared to be a victim.

“Fuck,” Kagami groaned as he slumped on the table, “I always forget how hot these things are.”

Daiki nodded as he carefully tested the damage done to his tongue. He hoped his taste buds hadn’t been destroyed for the rest of the day.

They then proceeded to pull open their takoyaki and blow on every little piece after that.

**____________________________**

“So what do you wanna do now?” Daiki asked as Kagami threw his rubbish in the bin.

“I’m still kind of hungry,” the other boy admitted.

“Kind of?” Daiki chuckled.

“Alright, very,” Kagami laughed. “What do you want to eat next?”

“Mmmm.......yakisoba,” he decided as he caught a whiff of it drifting through the air.

“Sounds good to me,” Kagami smiled as he held out his hand.

Daiki blinked down at the out stretched palm.

“What?” he asked as he looked back up at the red head.

Kagami knew that he didn’t have his wallet on him yet, so what did he want?

“We’re going through the crowds again so give me your arm.”

Daiki felt his face flush red as he stared at the other boy.

“Can’t.....can’t I just hold your sleeve or something?” Daiki asked awkwardly as some people passing by gave them odd looks.

“If you want to look like a lost child,” Kagami laughed, “then sure.”

Daiki felt his blush deepen as he clenched his hands and bit the inside of his lip.

 _Come on you idiot, you were just wishing for another chance at this a moment ago,_ he berated himself.

Staring back down at Kagami’s out stretched hand he sucked in a deep breath between his teeth.

“Fine,” he finally mumbled, holding his arm out towards Kagami.

As he felt Kagami’s fingers wrap around his wrist again, Daiki was glad that it was the other boy who was leading them as he kept his flushed face bent down towards the ground.

**____________________________**

“Oh my gosh! They’re holding hands!” Satsuki squealed as quietly as she could from her hiding place behind the stall.

“Well in a way, I guess they are,” Midorima said dryly, adjusting his glasses. “Though I don’t understand why we left them in the first place.”

“I’ve noticed that Aomine-kun and Kagami-kun tend to improve their friendship when they’re left alone together,” Tetsu-kun stated next to them.

“Unlike you Kuroko, I have no interest in the progression of Aomine’s.....relationships,” Midorima said, turning away.

“Midorin, who told you?” Satsuki gasped, clutching her face in her hands.

“No one told me,” the green haired boy said as he, once again, adjusted his glasses. “It was simply that obvious.”

“Midorin, you have to promise not to tell anyone,” Satsuki begged, “Dai-chan would be really—”

“I can assure you, Momoi, that it is not a topic that I will be bringing up,” he cut in with a huff. “Also it was my impression that almost everyone knew. I believe that, besides Kagami, Kise is the only one out of the loop.”

Satsuki felt horrified as she looked back to where the rest of the group were huddled around a little kid’s game.

“Even Mukkun?”

“Yes I believe Himuro told him.”

Satsuki groaned slightly.

“Don’t blame yourself Momoi. Aomine should learn to suppress his feelings if he is against other parties gaining knowledge of them.”

“What, like you Shin-chan?” Takao-kun asked behind him.

Midorin spun around to glare at his shorter team mate.

“Takao—”

“We’re all done now, Momoi-san,” Takao-kun said informing her and ignoring the green haired boy. “Are we continuing to follow the love-birds?”

“I think they’ll be good for now,” Tetsu-kun smiled.

Takao-kun nodded as everyone else joined them.

“Did you guys find Aominecchi and Kagamicchi yet?” Kise asked glancing around the crowd.

“No, not yet,” Tetsu-kun said. “How about we try looking over there?”

Everyone nodded as they headed off in the opposite direction to where Dai-chan and Kagamin had gone.

**____________________________**

Daiki was once again being led through the crowd by Kagami. They were now in the routine of once they had finished at their selected food stop the red head would grab his wrist and they would move back into the flow of people. Daiki was gradually getting used to the action but he definitely didn’t miss the looks that he was getting from judging eyes. This made him keep his head bowed and his eyes on nothing but Kagami’s hand.

It was as he was staring at Kagami’s hand that he began to notice how big they actually were and how much of an opposite they were to Daiki’s. Yes, Daiki’s hands were large as well but his were more long and slender, while Kagami’s were broader and thicker. His hands were also surprisingly soft. He didn’t know why, but Daiki always assumed that they’d be more callused and rough. Instead they were really warm and gentle.

Daiki felt them change course and looked up to see that they were once again leaving the busy crowd to inspect another stall.

“Hey Aomine,” Kagami said as they stopped off to the side, their skin connection ceasing. “Wanna play a game?”

“Sure,” Daiki shrugged as Kagami looked at the line of game stalls in front of them. “Which one though?”

“Mmmm.......how about that one?” Kagami said,excitedly pointing to a stall that had lots of little kids surrounding it.

Daiki groaned.

“Have you ever even played that one before?” he asked.

“Nope,” Kagami said, already taking out his wallet. “How do you play?”

Daiki rolled his eyes; he guessed they were playing it then.

“It’s like the goldfish scooping game except instead of scooping goldfish, you scoop out those little plastic balls,” Daiki explained. “The more you scoop out before your net breaks, the better prize you get.”

“Cool, let’s play,” Kagami said, almost hopping from one foot to the other.

Daiki had to stifle a laugh at the sight of an overexcited Kagami. He didn’t think that he’d ever seen the red head like this before.

As they reached the stall, Kagami handed over money for both of them to play and the woman sitting there handed them back a bowl and a scoop each. They found space amongst the kids and crouched down over the water filled tank that was dotted with the colourful bits of plastic. Daiki looked up at the arrangement of prizes and found that forty plastic balls would win him a pick of the top prizes.

 _Forty it is then_ , he smiled as he looked back down at the tank.

Before he could begin, though, Kagami went ahead and dunked his scoop completely in the water in an attempt to fish out some of the plastic balls; almost splashing Daiki’s scoop in the process.

“Idiot,” Daiki hissed under his breath; aware that there were still lots of little kids around them. “I told you that it’s like the goldfish scooping game. If your net touches the water it’ll break. It’s made of paper, remember.”

Kagami stared at his now broken net and his empty bowl. His ferocious attempt had failed in obtaining anything.

“Damn,” he muttered as he reached into his pocket to get his wallet, so that he could pay for another scoop. “Show me how it’s done then.”

Daiki rolled his eyes as the stall owner handed Kagami another scoop and his change with a giggle.

“Alright, are you watching,” he asked.

Kagami nodded, focusing his gaze on Daiki.

Daiki took in a deep breath and watched the bobbing plastic slowly flow past him. He then lowered his bowl above the water and made sure that only the plastic rim of his scoop touched the surface as he flicked a plastic ball into his container.

“That was amazing,” Kagami exclaimed, staring at him with wide eyes.

Daiki felt himself bristle with pride from the compliment; even if he was just playing a kids game.

“Alright, alright, let me try again,” Kagami said, excited once more. “I just got to flick it, right?”

“Yeah, but remember to keep the paper part out of the water,” Daiki reminded him as he went back to scooping.

He hadn’t scooped many though before Kagami made another large splash as he attempted to flick a coloured ball into his bowl. Luckily the boy who had been standing next to Kagami had left moments ago otherwise he’d be soaked right now.

“Bakagami,” Daiki said in a low growl. “I told you—”

“Look, look Aomine,” the red head said happily turning to him. “I got one!”

Daiki glanced down at the boy’s bowl that now held one green plastic ball and a small pool of water in it.

“Well done,” he said dryly, “but you’ve also ruined your scoop again.”

Kagami looked to the scoop in his other hand and frowned slightly.

Daiki shook his head as he went back to fishing out the coloured plastic as Kagami paid for another scoop. The stall owner giggling at them once again. In between each success Daiki glanced over at Kagami who was now hovering over the tank with an intense look on his face. Thankfully all the kids that had been around them earlier appeared to have left, otherwise he was pretty sure that Kagami’s menacing aura would have scared them all off anyway.

He chuckled as he went back to his task.

Awhile later Kagami made another move to obtain one of the coloured balls, however, he flicked it too hard and it went flying out onto the grass; which he then had to go and get and put back into the tank. Scowling slightly, Kagami went back to hovering over the coloured selection before taking another swing. This time he managed to catch a brightly orange painted ball with minimal water splashing. However his net was starting to break and he was unable to scoop another before it became useless.

Daiki, meanwhile, was on a roll. He could see the very edges of his paper net beginning to dampen but he knew that he was almost there.

“Wow Aomine, you’ve got so many,” Kagami exclaimed next to him. “How come you’re so good?”

“Shush, I’m trying to concentrate,” Daiki hissed as he scooped up another one.

“How many have you got?” Kagami asked ignoring his last comment.

“Thirty something....” he muttered.

He was pretty sure he had thirty-five so far.

_Ha, thirty-six!_

He could feel Kagami watching him closely now

_Thirty-seven._

Concentrating hard he flicked another.

_Thirty-eight._

He was so close now.

_Thirty-nine._

Alright, he just needed one more. His net was pretty damp now and about to break but he knew that he could definitely get one more. Just one more......

“AOMINECCHI! I FOUND YOU!”

Something hard slammed into Daiki’s back making him topple forward and plunge his scoop, his arms, his sleeves and well.....pretty much his entire upper body into the water.

“DAMN IT KISE!” Daiki splattered as he pulled himself out of the tank.

“Oops sorry,” Kise nervously laughed as everyone else came over to join them.

“I’m soaking wet now,” he growled as he stood up, his sleeves dripping everywhere.

“I’m sorry,” the blond began to wail. “I’m sorry.”

Daiki just grumbled as he pulled his arms out of his wet yukata and began to wring out the blue fabric.

 _Great, just great,_ he thought bitterly.

“Oh gosh, Dai-chan,” Satsuki said with concern in her voice as she rushed over to him and pulled out a handkerchief to began drying his face. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t fucking know,” he growled as he continued to wring out his clothes; ignoring the looks he got from parents as they passed by.

Great, the entire top half of his yukata was soaked.

“Well.....at least it’s not too cold today,” Satsuki offered nervously.

“I’m not walking around in wet clothes,” Daiki snapped.

“And you’re not walking around a Children Day’s festival without a shirt on,” Midorima said looking at him distastefully. “Don’t you have any shame? Cover up immediately.”

Daiki looked down at his front as he finally realised that yes he was shirtless, and yes people were definitely staring at him. Wrapping his arms around his body, he still refused to pull the wet top of his yukata back on.

 _Great, looks like I’m going home then,_ he mentally grumbled to himself.

“Here,” Kagami said, slipping out of is yukata coat and handing it to him. “You can wear this until yours dries.”

Daiki looked down at the red coat that Kagami was offering him and felt his heart flutter.He managed to offer a shy smile and a mumbled ‘thanks’, before accepting the coat; not missing how warm it felt. Daiki then pulled his arms through the sleeves and wrapped the folds of the coat around his waist.

“Now you just need something to tie around the middle,” Kagami said with a smile.

“Oooh Dai-chan, you can use this,” Satsuki offered undoing the long ribbon that she had tied up in her hair.

“Thanks,” he muttered as Satsuki helped position the ribbon around his middle.

“Well.....he looks ridiculous,” Midorima muttered, “but at least he’s fully clothed now.”

Daiki ignored the moss head as he gave his yukata one last wring out before leaving it to hang down the back of his legs to dry.

“Here, you dropped this as well,” Kagami said passing Daiki his bowl of earnings.

How Kagami had managed to catch it, he’d never know.

“Thanks,” he said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

“Come on, let’s go and see what prize you won,” Kagami said enthusiastically dragging him back to the stall.

Daiki grumbled but complied.

“Are you alright dear?” the lady at the stall asked as they both handed their bowls back to her.

“Ah, yeah,” Daiki muttered as he realised that she’d witness the whole thing.

“Alright now let’s see....” she began, “unfortunately five is the smallest number to win a prize.”

Daiki saw Kagami’s shoulders slump slightly as the lady moved on to count his instead. He was pretty sure that he was one short of the big prize though.

“....37....38....39.....”

Yep. Damn. One short.

The lady, however, then reached into Kagami’s bowl and continued to count.

“....40....41....” she said with a little grin and a wink, “alright dear which prize off the back shelf do you want?”

Daiki blinked twice as Kagami laughed and gave him a thumping pat on the back, making him blush, as he realised that she really didn’t have to do that.

What did he want to pick though? The back shelf was mainly filled with large stuffed toys and he really didn’t need one of those. He had just wanted to beat the highest score. As his eyes roamed over the selection they came to land on a large orange tiger that was slumped sideways.

“Ah, the tiger,” he said before he really thought it through.

The woman smiled as she pulled it off the shelf for him.

“Here you go dear.”

Daiki blushed slightly as he took the large toy from her. It was surprisingly soft and not stiff like a lot of festival toys were. Yet as much as he liked it, he didn’t have any plans for keeping it.

“Here,” he said roughly as he turned to Kagami and shoved it into his arms.

“What....for me?” the red head asked as he scrambled to hold onto it, “but....but you won it.”

“And I don’t want it, so I’m giving it to you,” Daiki said trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

He then quickly turned away and walked over to the others before Kagami had a chance to hand it back to him. It was then that he realised that, while some of the group had wondered off to other stalls to play a few games, some of them, such as Tetsu and Satsuki, had stayed to watch the exchange and now he was face to face with their way too joyous expressions. Shit. They weren’t ever going to let him live this one down.

Before he let them say anything though, he spotted Satsuki’s bag hanging off her shoulder.

“Oi Satsuki, I need my wallet back,” he said as he remembered all the money that he owed Kagami.

Satsuki’s grin instantly fell and she nervously looked around.

“Ah....right now?” she asked backing up slowly.

Daiki’s eyes narrowed.

“You spent it didn’t you,” he asked as he felt an eyebrow twitch.

“Ah...well....there was this thing and it was really nice—”

“Satsuki,” Daiki growled.

“...sorry...” she mumbled, beginning to tear up.

Daiki sighed; he knew he shouldn’t have left his wallet with her.

“Never mind,” he muttered patting her on the head; he’d have to pay Kagami back some other time.

“What’s wrong?” Kagami asked coming to stand next to him, toy tiger still wrapped up in his arms.

“Ah, yeah sorry, Satsuki spent all my money,” Daiki said running his hand through his hair, “so I’ll have to pay you back some other time.....buy you Maji or something?”

“Oh, that’s alright,” Kagami said with a shrug. “This is enough.”

With that he gave the large toy tiger a squeeze and Daiki felt a blush creep up his cheeks as Kagami walked over to talk to Tetsu.

“Dai-chan....” Satsuki giggled as he buried his face in his hands.

Seriously. Sometimes Kagami was too adorable.

**____________________________**

Later that evening they were all spaced out on the side of a grassy hill waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Daiki had bullied Kise into buying him food to make up for the drama earlier and his clothes had finally dried enough for him to slip back into. He, however, refused to give Kagami his yukata coat back with complaints that it was cold, when, in reality, he just wanted to keep wearing it because it belonged to the red head.

As they lay there staring up at the night sky, Kagami on one side and Tetsu on the other, Daiki felt that, even after everything that had happened, today had been a good day. He’d gotten to spend most of it with just Kagami, which he had a feeling Tetsu had something to do with but he couldn’t prove, and he’d gotten to see more sides of the red head then he knew before.

They’d even almost held hands!

Daiki blushed at the memory, remembering the contact on his skin.

“Hey Aomine,” Kagami said softly next to him in the dark so only he could hear, “ah, today....it was fun....hanging out with you.....I really liked it.....”

Daiki felt his heart rate quicken as he turned his head to try and see Kagami through the darkness. It was then that he realised that him and Kagami were laying very close together, their shoulders almost touching.

“Ah, yeah....same,” Daiki mumbled.

Kagami’s face turned towards his and Daiki felt the space between them disappear. They were so close that Daiki could hear Kagami breathing amongst the distant noise of the festival. He began feeling like he wanted to close the distance between them. Get closer to the other boy.

Someone said something and Kagami’s attention was drawn to his other side, the red head rolling his head back over to talk to them.

At that moment, Daiki felt like he’d been pulled from a haze as it dawned on him what he’d been about to do.

Fuck. That was close, way too close.

Willing himself to stare back up at the sky Daiki lay his hands down in the cool grass, hoping it would calm him down. Perhaps it would have worked, however, as he lay there he felt Kagami’s hand brush against his and instead of retreating again, it stayed there, gently warming the edge of his skin.

Then the fireworks started.

Daiki watched as Kagami’s excited face was lit up by the lights in the sky and that night, as he lay there watching the show, he couldn’t tell whether it was the fireworks or his own heart that was pounding in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how did you guys like the back to back days of chapters?
> 
> I have a couple more double chapters like these planned for further down the track so I'd love to read your thoughts on them :D


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Aokaga Day Everyone XD
> 
> I hope you're all enjoying yourselves :D
> 
> I wasn't originally going to write this chapter but I figured that I should do something for Aokaga day so I'm sorry if it's a bit short.
> 
> Please Enjoy~

May 10th:

It had been a couple of days since the Children Day’s festival and neither Kagami nor Daiki had mentioned what had happened during the fireworks. Daiki actually wondered if Kagami had even realised that they’d laid their hands next to each other for the entire show. He also wondered countless times if he was just overreacting and whether that sort of closeness was normal for the red head.

Letting out a sigh, Daiki ran a hand through his hair as he walked along the footpath.

It was almost summer and the weather today made him aware of that. He’d worn his jumper to school but had abandoned it around lunch time. Yeah, it was definitely about time to make the switch for his cooler uniform.

As he felt sweat slide down his back he loosened his tie; not caring that he looked a little dishevelled. His mum would probably yell at him but he couldn’t wait to get home and lay under the cool air-con. Maybe he could even raid the freezer for icy poles.

He was pulled from his air-con day-dream, though, by his phone vibrating in his pocket. Taking it out, he really hoped that it wasn’t Satsuki. He didn’t have a good tolerance for her on days like this.

Flipping it open, however, he was met with the name **Bakagami** flashing up on his screen.

Kagami?

Why was he calling?

Sure they texted each other quite often now, but they never called. Daiki often felt like it was too awkward to talk over the phone.

Hesitantly pressing the answer button, he brought the phone up to his ear.

“Oi,” Kagami’s voice sounded on the other end, “where are you right now?”

“Hello to you too,” Daiki said rolling his eyes before glancing at his surroundings. “I’m heading home, why?”

“Damn....” Kagami muttered into the receiver. “How far from home are you?”

“Like, two blocks,” Daiki answered as he began to look around to see if, perhaps, the red head was in his vicinity and that was why he was calling.

“Ah....never mind then,” the other boy sighed; Daiki could practically feel him deflate through the phone. “Was going to ask you to come and play basketball with me.”

Daiki felt himself physically straighten at those words.

“Don’t you have some test or something to study for?” he asked as he started to calculate how long it would take him to make a u-turn and head over to their usual court.

“Yeah it’s a project, but I need a break,” Kagami groaned into the phone. “I can’t stand sitting inside any longer.”

Daiki laughed into the receiver as he knew full well that he had similar problems. Sitting still for long periods was just not his forte, hence why he skipped class all the time.

“Anyway, that’s all I called for,” the read head’s defeated voice sounded in Daiki’s ear. “I guess I’ll see you Sunday then.”

“Hang on,” Daiki said before Kagami could hang up, “I’ll come play.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah just give me like......half an hour,” he said as he began walking again, “I’ll go home and change first.”

“Ha-ha, Aomine you’re the best,” Kagami’s happy voice blasted in his ear.

Daiki felt his cheeks flush at the other boy’s statement.

“I know,” he said cockily trying to mask his own happiness. “You owe me big.”

“I’ll buy you Maji,” Kagami offered.

“Nah too hot for burgers,” Daiki said as he crossed a street. “I want icy poles instead.”

“Icy poles?”

“We used to eat them after practice when we were kids,” he explained. “The warmer weather’s making me crave them again.”

“Alright, icy poles it is then,” Kagami said. “I’ll buy you a whole box of them.”

Daiki grinned, “Deal.”

“Cool, see you in half an hour then.”

As he hung up the phone, Daiki began sprinting towards home.

**____________________________**

Unfortunately Daiki hadn’t calculated the distance well and he ended up being about twenty minutes later than he said he would. To be fair he had tried his best to arrive on time. His mum had held him back; asking where he was going so late in the afternoon and he’d missed the train that would have gotten him there sooner.

He’d even run the last stretch in fear of keeping Kagami waiting too long.

As he arrived at the court he spotted Kagami at the other end near the ring; except that he wasn’t facing the hoop closest to him, he was staring intently at the one near Daiki, oblivious to his arrival it seemed.

What was he doing? He wasn’t planning on shooting from there, was he? OK.......maybe he was.

Daiki watched as Kagami bent low and let the ball fly from his finger tips. It arched up high in the air like a certain moss head’s shot and then plummeted down towards the ring. Except that it missed the ring completely, by a good couple of meters.

Daiki couldn’t help but break out in a hallowing laugh as he gripped the fence for support.

“You trying to become like Midorima or something?” he shouted in between laughs.

As he squinted between the tears in his eyes he saw Kagami’s face colour like that of a stop sign.

“Shut up AHO!”

Daiki continued to laugh as he went to retrieve the ball and walk over to where Kagami was standing.

“You’re late,” the red head grumbled from beneath his embarrassment, his cheeks matching the shade of his hair.

Daiki didn’t think that he’d ever seen him this red in the face before.

Flustered Kagami was adorable.

“I’m here now,” he shrugged, a grin stuck on his face. “So let’s play.”

Kagami glanced over at him before sighing and running his hands through his hair. An action that brought a little heat to Daiki’s own cheeks.

“Fine,” the red head said as his blush subsided before being replaced with a small smirk, “you’re on.”

**____________________________**

As they played basketball though, Daiki began to lose his cool. He had never really noticed how much skin contact him and Kagami made while they played, and ever since the fireworks he felt as though he’d become much more aware of it.

Their bodies would bump against each other as they guarded and every so often their hands would grip the others while they were trying to steal the ball. It was making Daiki very flustered and he kept making mistakes.

So he was thankful that, when he scored the last basket, Kagami called it quits, saying that he needed to be getting home soon. Daiki only then realised how late it was.

As they reached the bench, Daiki pulled his phone out from his bag and cringed slightly at the list of text messages from his mother, asking him what time he was planning on coming home, reminding him that it was in fact a school night and to get his ass home soon or he wouldn’t get any dinner.

Groaning, Daiki put his phone away as Kagami gave him a questioning look.

“Mum’s nagging me to get home,” he explained

Kagami nodded. “There’s a convenience store on the way to the train station.”

Agreeing to get icy poles along the way, they quickly packed up their belongings and headed towards the train station.

**____________________________**

Daiki followed Kagami into the convenience store, which was a couple of blocks up from their basketball court, and over to the freezer section.

“Any particular one you want?” the red head asked as they looked over their selection.

Daiki nodded as he scanned the goods, he knew exactly which one he wanted; the ones they use to eat back in middle school. Spotting them at the back Daiki reached in and grabbed a box. Handing it over to Kagami, the red-head then took his own selection and Daiki’s up to the counter to pay for them.

Upon his return, Daiki grabbed his box of icy poles back, extracted his first one, and quickly bit into it. Ah yes, this was exactly what he’d needed.

Seeing the red-head chuck his wrapper in the bin, Daiki noticed that Kagami had grabbed a different one to him.

_I wonder what flavour he got._

Seeing his opportunity as the other boy turned to put his wallet away, Daiki leaned in and took a bite out of Kagami’s unguarded icy pole.

_Mmm not bad,_ he thought; it tasted fruity.

As Kagami turned back around, he paused, looked at his icy pole and then shifted his narrowed eyes onto Daiki.

“Oi, you took a bite out of mine,” he said accusingly.

“Wanted to know what it tasted like,” Daiki shrugged with a smirk.

“Gimmi a bite of yours then.”

“Ha, no way,” he said moving his out of Kagami’s reach, “I’ve seen you’re bites.”

“So? You’ve got a whole box of them,” the red head said trying to reach around and grab Daiki’s treat.

Daiki smirked but his retort became lodged in his throat when Kagami’s body pressed against his as the other boy lunged at the retreating popsicle.

“Ha,” Kagami cried in triumph as his large hand wrapped around Daiki’s retreating one.

In that moment Daiki froze up, while his heart started pounding against his chest. Kagami’s hand was warm and gripping his tightly; preventing him from fleeing. All he could do was watch with flushed cheeks as Kagami pulled their hands closer and took a large chunk out of Daiki’s icy pole.

“Mmm, mine’s better,” Kagami declared as he munched on the ice in his mouth.

Daiki just nodded slightly as Kagami let go of his hand, the warmth of the red head leaving him.

They had.....just held hands.....sort of.

Glancing at Kagami who was happily biting into his icy pole Daiki noticed that the other boy wasn’t bothered by it at all, which made him deflate slightly.

So it really was just casual touching.

Bringing his icy pole back towards himself he stared at it glumly and noticed that half of it was missing.

“You bit off too much,” Daiki grumbled.

Kagami looked at him and then sighed before extending his icy pole out towards Daiki.

“Here, you can have another bite of mine,” he offered.

Daiki looked at him and then to the icy pole. Hadn’t Kagami just taken a bite out of it? Wouldn’t that kind of make it…..like…..an indirect kiss? Heat flooded his face again as he realised that they’d been doing that for about the last five minutes. Was Kagami seriously ok with this? Did he not get bothered by sharing food like this at all? Or was he too thick to understand what they were doing?

“You gonna take a bite or not?” the red head asked, waving the popsicle in front of him.

Daiki snapped out of his thoughts, took a bite of the offered food, then watched as Kagami took it back and put his mouth over the same spot.

Daiki’s cheeks were burning for the rest of the walk to the station.

**____________________________**

“So I’ll still see you on Sunday then?” Daiki asked, noticing that his train would be arriving soon.

“Yeah, of course,” Kagami, who had decided to wait with him, said.

Daiki nodded and looked down at the box in his hands, one icy pole left.

“Here,” Daiki said, offering the last one to Kagami.

“Nah, I bought it for you.”

“I can’t eat it on the train and mum’ll kill me if I come home with them.”

Kagami hesitated.

“Just take it,” Daiki sighed as the train station bells began to sound.

The red head gave in and took the box from him with a small ‘thanks’.

As the train pulled into the station Daiki made his way towards the carriage doors; trying to avoid the businessmen who were pushing to get on.

“Aomine,”

Daiki turned to look back at Kagami who was grinning from ear to ear, with the icy pole held tightly in his hand.

“See you Sunday!”

Daiki nodded and tried to cover up his blush as he hopped onto the train, the doors closing behind him. He then watched Kagami wave from the platform; a small smile touching Daiki’s own lips.

Man, he couldn’t wait till Sunday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah that's it, sorry that it was a bit short :( hopefully you all enjoyed it though :D
> 
> I hope that you all have a wonderful Aokaga Day and I'll see all you lovely people again on Sunday ^_^


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone,
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter ~

May 14th

Sunday took forever to come as far as Daiki was concerned, yet it didn’t seem to have been the same for the red head. They had played several games and by now he knew something was bothering Kagami. The boy’s movements were distracted and his focus seemed to be off slightly, as though he was constantly looking past Daiki all the time.

After he had scored the last goal, Kagami scoring none, Daiki called it quits.

“What, already?” Kagami asked, focusing on Daiki for the first time that day.

Daiki did the mature thing for once and decided not to voice his irritation at Kagami’s unfocused behaviour, even if he had been looking forward to this all week.

“It’s past lunch time already,” Daiki stated as he felt his stomach rumble. “I’m hungry.”

Kagami looked down at his own stomach as it too voiced a demand for food.

“Oh yeah.....me too,” he mumbled.

Alarm bells started ringing in Daiki’s head. Kagami wasn’t someone who forgot to eat. Usually he was the first to demand a break for food.

“Hey, are you alright?” Daiki asked, concern lacing his voice.

“Yeah,” Kagami shrugged, not letting their eyes meet. “So, what did you want to do for lunch?”

Daiki narrowed his eyes slightly as he was well aware that Kagami hadn’t answered truthfully.

“I don’t mind Maji, but you’ll have to buy ‘cause I don’t have much change on me,” Daiki said with a smirk, knowing that it would usually rile the other man up.

Though, instead of getting angry about Daiki never bringing enough money with him when they caught up for basketball, Kagami just started slowly shaking his head.

Ok, now Daiki was really starting to worry.

“I haven’t got enough money on me for both of us to eat at Maji,” Kagami said as he began to wander off to the benches; Daiki followed.

_Great, so I guess our hang out time is over,_ Daiki thought bitterly as he snatched up his water bottle.

He’d really been looking forward to today and now he was just feeling let down. Daiki knew that something was distracting Kagami but if the other boy didn’t want to talk about it then there wasn’t much that he could do, right? Maybe it would have been better if Kagami had just caught up with his ‘brother’ today inst–

Daiki froze as he felt as though little pieces in his brain were starting to click together.

That’s right; the ‘brother’ had been overly concerned about spending time with Kagami today. Was today some important date or something? It couldn’t be a good date if it was making the red head so out of it.

“Hey Kagami–”

“You know if you want,” Kagami cut in, “we could go back to mine for lunch.”

Daiki paused, blinking at the other boy.

“Ah, yeah....sure,” he said awkwardly as he watched the red head give a little sigh of relief.

So Kagami hadn’t wanted him to leave; this made Daiki feel a little more at ease.

Maybe he could find out what was troubling the other boy on the way?

**____________________________**

Daiki had had no such luck. Mainly because shortly after they’d left the basketball court it had finally sunk in that he was actually going to Kagami’s place. Sure he’d been there before, with everyone else, but this time it would just be the two of them and he was desperately trying to keep out the fantasies of what two people usually did behind closed doors. It had made for a quiet walk to the red head’s apartment, with him, a deep blush threatening to break through and Kagami, falling back into his unfocused state.

As they arrived at Kagami’s apartment door, though, both of them seemed to stumble out of their inner thoughts while the red head fumbled with his keys.

“Come on in,” Kagami said holding the now opened door aside for him.

Daiki ducked his head slightly as he awkwardly slipped past Kagami muttering a soft, ‘sorry for the intrusion’.

Taking off their shoes, Daiki then followed Kagami down the hall towards the living room area, past the red head’s bedroom.

Truth be told, he was a little curious as to what it actually looked like but he wasn’t going to go snooping like he did last time.

As they exited the hallway, Kagami headed straight towards the kitchen while Daiki surveyed the room. It looked pretty much exactly how it had the previous time he’d come over, minus all the party decorations. Everything was neat and tidy, the complete opposite to the areas that Daiki made contact with at his own home. Yet there was this big sense of unease that Daiki felt from entering the large room. It felt empty and lonely.

There was very little furnishings and a lack, he felt, of Kagami’s personal touch. Sure there was a basketball magazine or two put neatly away on the shelf but, all in all, it screamed loneliness. Daiki hadn’t really noticed it last time as the place had been full with so many people but now it pressed in on him, to the point that it was almost suffocating.

“Feel free to watch the TV or something,” Kagami said, breaking through his thoughts, as he peered at him from the kitchen.

Daiki nodded as he realised that he’d just been standing there, frozen in place. Slowly shuffling into the room, he tried to find something to do. He didn’t really want to turn on the TV and be antisocial on his first proper visit. Though, peering through Kagami’s sparse shelves, he soon realised that there wasn’t really much else to do. Maybe he could offer to help in the kitchen. Nah, him helping with the cooking had never ended well. His mom had banned him from their own one a long time ago.

Sighing, he decided that maybe turning the TV on would help with the deafening silence that seemed to be holding this room; only ever being broken by Kagami moving about in the kitchen. As he moved over to the couch to sit down, though, he spotted something on a shelf on the other side of the room. He was pretty sure that hadn’t been there last time he’d come over.

Wandering over to the picture that had caught his eye, he stared down at a beautiful crimson haired woman that was framed behind glass. She had slender features and piercing red eyes that Daiki felt were looking right into his soul, the same way Kagami’s eyes did sometimes.

At the thought of him, Daiki looked over towards the kitchen and noticed that Kagami had stopped moving and was watching him. Feeling like he’d been caught doing something that he shouldn’t have, Daiki nervously took a step back and scratched his head slightly.

“Ah, she’s really pretty,” he fumbled. “Who is she?”

Although he already had a pretty good idea of who she was.

“That’s my mum,” Kagami said softly as he slowly made his way over to stand next to him.

Daiki watched as the other boy then bent down and pulled out a packet of incense sticks and a box of matches before lighting one and placing it in front of the frame. The area, Daiki now noticed, was covered in ash; probably the only dirty part in the entire apartment.

“Is she not.....around.....anymore?” Daiki asked awkwardly.

“Yeah, she.....had cancer......and.....passed away.....a couple of years ago,” Kagami mumbled as he stared with foggy eyes at the picture.

Daiki had to control himself from reaching out and giving the hurt boy a hug as he finally realised that this was probably what had been bothering Kagami all morning.

“Is today....the anniversary?” Daiki asked but instantly wished that he hadn’t been so insensitive.

Kagami bit into the bottom of his lip and his fists clenched slightly, “no....that’s....later in the year.”

Daiki nodded, not really knowing what else to do and not trusting himself to say anything else. He watched as Kagami sighed and ran a hand through his two toned hair.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “You’ve probably already noticed that I’m not entirely with it today.”

Daiki nodded once again; still remaining silent. He didn’t think that he’d ever seen Kagami this broken and fragile before. The other boy sighed once again and shook his head, as though that would push away whatever he was thinking.

“Sorry” he said again; a pained smile forcing its way onto his face. “It’s nothing really.”

Daiki couldn’t hold back from those words.

“It’s not nothing,” he said firmly, “but.......if you don’t want to talk about it, then……I understand.”

Red eyes looked into his and then to the ground before Kagami took in a deep breath and started speaking.

“In America they have these days.....where you celebrate........and spend time with your parents. Father’s day and Mother’s day, and well....today, today’s Mother’s day and....I.......I don’t have........”

Daiki felt his heart break as Kagami trailed off with a shaky intake of breath.

“It’s just....not a day I handle....well.....anymore,” he continued, looking at the picture once again.

Daiki bit the inside of his lip; not knowing what words to use to comfort him. He needed to help, offer support in some way, he knew that but he just couldn’t think of how to do it. Usually when Satsuki was down he’d just hug her, but he and Kagami weren’t really at that level of friendship. He didn’t even know if this ‘basketball arrangement’ that they had could even be referred to as friendship.

After a while of standing there Kagami’s stomach broke the silence, making them both smile slightly.

“I should go back to getting lunch ready,” the other boy said scratching his head.

Daiki nodded, hating himself for not being able to say anything. He knew that he needed to say something…..anything….

“Kagami….”

The boy paused in his return to the kitchen.

“I’m….sorry….”

_Fuck, that sounded stupid._

Kagami blinked a couple of times before a gentle smile slipped onto his face.

“Thanks, but you don’t need to apologise.”

“I just….didn’t know what to say,” he mumbled as embarrassment flooded his face.

Kagami smiled warmly at him, his body taking a more relaxed stance.

“You know, it’s really not that bad,” he said, masking away the pain that had been so clearly etched onto his face. “I mean, no one celebrates it here so it’s not like I’m constantly getting reminded of it.”

Daiki moved his gaze to the ground knowing that Kagami was trying to make him feel better; when in reality it should have been the other way around. Why couldn’t he just make the other boy smile the same way Kagami made him smile when he was troubled?

As he toed the ground slightly, he felt Kagami come back over to stand next to him.

“Hey mum, I wanna introduce someone to you.”

Daiki looked up to see Kagami talking to the woman in the picture and smiling.

“This is Aomine,” the boy said with genuine happiness on his face, “and he’s an idiot.”

“Oi!”

Kagami laughed, turning his smile onto him,and making Daiki’s heart beat a hundred miles per hour.

“We play basketball together all the time and he’s actually pretty good at it,” Kagami said with a smirk.

Daiki rolled his eyes but couldn’t take down the smile that was now plastered to his face.

Kagami complimenting him always felt good.

“Other than that, though, he doesn’t have many redeeming qualities,” the other boy continued with a cheeky grin. “I mean, he likes to act like an asshole most of the time and he can’t even see the goodness in cheeseburgers. I’ve also seen him openly walk around in public reading gravure magazines....”

“Don’t tell your mum that,” Daiki said feeling the tips of his ears go red as Kagami laughed.

“.....but......even with all that, he’s still one of my closest friends.”

...

....

Daiki’s heart stopped at those words.

What.....what had Kagami just said? He was pretty sure that the other boy had just referred to him as his.....his.....friend.....

His.....close friend......

Since when did Kagami think so highly of him? They’d never sat down and agreed to be friends. Sure, they had a lot of mutual friends but him and Kagami....they weren’t......

Daiki couldn’t help it and actually had to cover his face as Kagami’s words began to sink in. He couldn’t even explain how ridiculously happy it made him feel to hear the other boy call him that. That somehow, through all of his fuck ups and bad attitude, Kagami had made it up in his mind that Daiki was worth calling a friend.

It made a stupid grin stick to his lips.

When he finally uncovered his face he saw that Kagami was gently smiling at him, making Daiki’s insides jump around like crazy.

“Well I better _actually_ get back to cooking now,” the other boy said as he, once again, began his return to the kitchen.

Daiki nodded, biting the inside of his lip with flushed cheeks.

“Hey Kagami.....” he called weakly, stopping the other boy in his tracks. “You....you’re.....a good friend of mine too....”

He saw Kagami’s grin widen and his cheeks tint a soft shade of pink.

“Glad to hear it.”

Daiki buried his face in his hands again, not being able to take any more of this situation.

“I’m........going to the bathroom,” he managed to mumble out before exiting the living room.

The bathroom was where he remained until lunch was ready.

**____________________________**

After lunch was done, they ended up watching basketball games from America.  Daiki didn’t mind but he had questioned Kagami as to why he didn’t have any video game consoles; the red head replying that he didn’t have any need or time for them. This had prompted Daiki to give him a stare of disbelief before rolling his eyes at just how focused Kagami was on basketball alone; not that he minded really. Daiki actually ended up enjoying most of the games even though he couldn’t understand a single thing that the commentators where saying.

As the afternoon wore on, Kagami would get up every now and then to fetch them snacks. Daiki noticed that the red head used these breaks to replace the incense stick in front of his mum’s picture. It wasn’t until Kagami got up for about the third time that their conversation turned away from basketball.

“Hey, are you planning on staying for dinner?” the red head asked from the kitchen. “Cause if you are then I’ll have to go to the shops.”

Daiki tore his gaze away from the TV to stare at the clock on the wall. Fuck, it was already 5pm. His mum would be calling him any minute to ask where the hell he was.

“Shit yeah, I better get.....”

Daiki paused in his movements as he his eyes fell onto Kagami. If he left now, would Kagami be alright?

“You know, if you want, I can stay,” he offered, before he could stop himself.

Red eyes flashed to him, lingering slightly, but then moved onwards to the wall.

“It’s.....it’s fine,” Kagami said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Daiki chewed on the inside of his lip. Fuck. Now he really didn’t want to leave.

“I’ll call my mum and ask if I can stay the night,” he said in a decisive tone as he took his phone out.

“Aho, I invited you for dinner not a sleep over,” Kagami said as Daiki saw redness hit the other boy’s cheeks.

Daiki’s insides flipped as he realised what he’d just offered. Sleeping over at Kagami’s house.....

Shaking his head, he pushed those thoughts away.

“So? I’m feeling generous,” he smirked, trying to cover his nervousness.

Kagami raised one forked eyebrow at him but was prevented from responding as his phone started ringing.

“It’s.....my dad,” the red head mumbled, looking at the caller ID.

Daiki didn’t miss the pained look that took hold of the red head’s face.

“You talk to your dad and I’ll call my mum about staying over,” Daiki said, and before Kagami could protest, he walked himself outside onto the balcony to give them both some privacy.

As he saw Kagami answer his phone through the sliding glass doors Daiki let out a long sigh.

Now all he had to do was convince his mum to let him stay over. Though, with him having school tomorrow, that didn’t seem like a plausible scenario.

Taking in a deep breath he began to dial his mum’s number.

**____________________________**

Umiko was in the kitchen getting dinner ready when her phone, that was resting on the counter, rang. Seeing that it was her son who was calling, she wiped her hands and answered.

“Hello Daiki,” she chimed.

“Hey.......”

“Are you on your way home now?” she asked, putting the phone between her shoulder and ear so that she could return to cooking. “I’ve just started dinner.”

“Um......mum.....I was wondering....would......would it be alright.....if I stayed the night at Kagami’s place?”

It didn’t go unnoticed that her son had rushed the last part, so he at least knew that it was something that he shouldn’t be asking. Umiko, however, still huffed at his guts to do so.

“Daiki, you have school tomorrow,” she began, getting ready for her usual long rant.

“I know, I know,” he said hurriedly. “It’s just that..........I found out today that Kagami’s mum.......died a couple of years ago.....”

Umiko paused in her chopping.

“....and yeah.....today....in America.....it’s Mother’s day....ah....it’s a kind of holiday they have......you’re meant to spend it with your mum.....and yeah.....I just......I thought it’d be good if I stayed....with him....you know.......keep him company.....”

Umiko smiled softly into the receiver, loving how much her son cared about his friends; particularly Kagami it seemed. She could still remember the day her son had come home from his last Winter Cup match, looking completely lost as he told her that he’d been beaten by a boy named ‘Kagami Taiga’. This boy it seemed had done what others couldn’t and Umiko was forever thankful to him for it as she had watched her son’s love for basketball return.

“Ok Daiki,” she said warmly, “you can stay the night.”

“....but mum....it’s just...........wait, what?”

“I said you can stay the night,” Umiko smiled into the receiver, “but what are you going to do about your school uniform?”

“Oh yeah......ah.....I can come back home early tomorrow morning, before school starts.....”

“Ha, you getting up early Dai,” Umiko laughed.

“I can do it,” came her son’s offended tone through the phone.

“Ha-ha, I very much doubt it,” she smiled. “How about I drop your school things off at Kagami’s house after dinner?”

“Really?”

“Of course, just message me his address.”

“Thanks mum, you’re the best.”

“I know,” she said,cheekily.

“Ha-ha well I’ll see you later then. I.....I love you.”

Umiko smiled; usually her son wasn’t so casual with that word.

“I love you too Dai.”

**____________________________**

Daiki stood on the footpath as his mum pulled up beside him.

“Hey sweetie,” she said stepping out with his school bag and a sports bag in her hands. “How’s the evening been?”

Daiki only managed to shrug as he kicked at the ground.

After he’d gotten off the phone to her earlier, a happy smile on his face, he’d walked into an empty living room. Kagami had obviously retreated to his bedroom while he’d been outside and when the red head had returned it was clear that he had been crying. Daiki couldn’t un-see the swelling around the other boy’s eyes, no matter how hard he tried.

Giving Kagami the good news had improved the other boy’s mood slightly but....only slightly.

Daiki had then tried his best to cheer him up during their shopping trip by finding items that had random English words written on them and then showing them to Kagami, who in turn would chuckle slightly at their misuse.

All in all, Kagami had gotten better by the time they returned to his apartment and after dinner, he seemed to be back to his normal self, but Daiki was still weary that something small could send the boy spiralling downwards again.

“Not good huh?”

He nodded as he took the bags from his mum.

“Should I come up and say ‘hello’?” she asked. “I haven’t actually met Kagami yet.”

“Ah, that’s probably not best……not today anyway……”

“Right, of course,” his mum said as her smile wavered slightly. “……well I guess I better go then…”

Daiki nodded as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Ah...hey mum....”

“Yes sweetie?” she said, pausing in her return to her car.

Daiki rubbed the back of his neck.

“How...how do you make someone feel better?”

“Oh....well....that’s not really a simple answer Dai,” she said with sadness on her face. “Sometimes people just need time.”

Daiki sighed and nodded.

“But...well....you could always try doing something that he enjoys doing,” she continued. “Help keep his mind distracted.”

Yeah basketball, but they’d already done that and Kagami hadn’t been able to focus at all.

“Alright,” he mumbled shifting the bags onto his shoulders.

“I love you sweetie,” she said coming back over and giving him a hug around the middle, “and remember, even if you can’t do anything to make him feel better, which sometimes you can’t, you just being there is probably doing him a world of good.”

Daiki nodded again as his chest tightened.

“Thanks mum,” he whispered as he bent over slightly and hugged her back. “I love you too.”

**____________________________**

“Hey, did you get everything you needed?” Kagami questioned, standing in the hallway as Daiki re-entered the red head’s apartment.

“Ah, yeah.”

“Cool, wanna go and play some basketball before bed?” Kagami asked, grinning at him, with ball in hand.

Daiki had to blink a couple of times at the boys blinding smile.

“It’s 8’oclock at night,” he fumbled out, suspicious of Kagami’s good mood.

Sure, the red head had been back to his old self when he’d left to go and meet his mum but, in all honesty, Daiki hadn’t been expecting it to stay.

“That’s alright, there’s a court with street lamps just a couple blocks from here.”

“Ah...alright then....”

“Sweet,” Kagami said, walking past Daiki’s frozen body.

“H...hey...” Daiki called as he finally got his joints to work.

Kagami paused in the front doorway and glanced back at him.

Fuck, did he really want to ask this? Bringing up the topic again, could cause Kagami to unravel once more, but he really didn’t want the boy to be pretending that he was fine if he wasn’t.

Sucking in a breath between his teeth, he looked into piercing red eyes.

“Are you.....gonna be alright now....?”

Kagami’s face softened as a warm smile spread across it.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be all good now.”

“You sure?”

Kagami nodded. “Yeah, I mean, even if I’m not, that’s why you’re here, right?”

Daiki felt his cheeks burn as the red head gave him one last smile and walked out the door.

**____________________________**

Daiki lay on the basketball court next to Kagami as they looked up at the night sky; a couple of stars dotted here and there. They’d played a couple rounds of basketball and it turned out that Kagami hadn’t been faking his good mood. His plays had been sharp and Daiki had definitely struggled through some of their games.

Feeling relaxed and satisfied he smiled silently to himself.

“Hey Aomine,” Kagami said softly. “Thanks for spending today with me.”

Heat bloomed in Daiki’s cheeks. “No problem.”

They fell back into silence as a cool breeze danced around their vacant court. Daiki caught sight of Kagami’s hair being tussled gently around his face and wished that his eyes could take pictures. If only he could stay next to Kagami, like this, forever.

“Do you ever think about the future?” Kagami asked, breaking their silence once more. “Like what you’ll do when you leave school?”

“Nah, not really,” Daiki admitted, though, frowning a little at the strange topic choice. “Probably just go pro.”

“Yeah, you could do it,” Kagami said nodding. “You might even get scouted by an American team.”

Daiki blushed once again at the high praise from the red-head.

“You could too, you know,” he mumbled.

Kagami turned his head to look at him with a warm smile on his face.

“That’d be cool wouldn’t it,” he said, a highlighted look in his eyes. “Imagine if we joined different teams and then we could continue to verse each other.”

Daiki’s heart skipped a beat. Playing basketball against Kagami on the big stage for at least a good decade sounded amazing.

“Yeah, that would be cool,” he softly admitted.

Kagami sighed, a small smile appearing on his lips as he seemed to be thinking about the possibility.

“But what’ll you do if you can’t play basketball?” the red head asked.

“If I can’t play basketball......?”

“Like an injury or something....” Kagami fumbled. “You know....what career would you pick besides basketball?”

“Ah....I dunno?” Daiki said; he’d never really thought about it. “Do you know what you’d do?”

“Mmm........I always thought fire fighters were cool.”

“A fire fighter?”

“Yeah.....or maybe a chef.....”

Daiki’s mouth drooled.

“I’d go to your restaurant.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, if you gave me a discount,” Daiki said with a cheeky smile.

Kagami just rolled his eyes and smiled; muttering a soft ‘ok’.

As they fell into silence once again Daiki thought about what he’d actually want to do besides basketball. There wasn’t much that really interested him. He was lazy; he knew that, and he hated being told what to do.

“You know,” Daiki mused. “I wouldn’t mind being a police officer.”

Kagami laughed at that.

“Oh man, you, a police officer. Ha-ha-ha. You’d be the most corrupt cop ever.”

Daiki grinned.

“I know. Give me a position of power and I’ll abuse it.”

Kagami laughed harder clutching his stomach.

Man, Daiki loved that sound.

He wished that he could always make Kagami laugh.

As Kagami’s laughter subsided Daiki began to wonder if they didn’t both go pro, would they even have time to play basketball with each other?

“Hey Kagami,” he said with uncertainty in his voice, “no matter what we do once we leave school, we’ll always play basketball......together......right?”

“Huh, yeah of course,” the red head replied.

“I’m serious,” Daiki said, fearing that he’d lose his best opponent once school was over.

“Yeah me too,” Kagami said, giving him his full attention.

Daiki looked into red irises; worry beginning to fill his veins. He didn’t want to lose his equal. Kagami meant so much to him. He brought light back into his life.

The red head must have caught the look though because his smile dropped and he stared at Daiki with all certainty.

“I am serious.”

Daiki nodded trying to will away his doubtful thoughts as Kagami began to move.

“Come on, sit up,” he instructed, moving into a sitting position.

Daiki hesitated at first but copied the other boy, sitting cross legged, opposite him.

“Now give me your hand.”

“What?” Daiki said with confusion, as memories from the children day’s festival flooded his mind.

Kagami sighed while reaching out and grabbing Daiki’s hand himself.

“We always use to do this as kids when I was back in the states,” the red head informed him.

Daiki nodded, still not having any clue as to what was going on.

“This is called a pinky promise,” he explained as he wrapped their pinky fingers together, “and you never ever break a pinky promise.”

“And.....why’s that,” Daiki asked feeling the warmth of Kagami’s hand join the warmth on his face.

“I think it was along the lines of you died, or your pinky would get chopped off or something like that,” Kagami said scratching his head with his free hand, “but that’s why if someone said that they pinky promised you something then everyone knew how serious it was.”

Daiki smiled beneath his blush as the red-head squeezed his pinky.

“So Aomine,” he said, “I promise you that we’ll always play basketball together, no matter where life takes us.”

And in that moment Daiki almost cried, as they squeezed their pinkies together and shook on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Mother's Day for those of you who are celebrating it today :D  
> I hope you all have a wonderful day and if you're like Kagami who doesn't have their mum around anymore then I hope that you have an Aomine in your life who can make you happy XD
> 
> Thanks again for reading <3


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, another double chapter ^_^
> 
> So I wasn't originally going to write this one either but how could I not write about them spending the night together XD
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy ~

May 14th

“So where did you want to sleep tonight?” Kagami asked as they re-entered his house. “I’ve got a spare room or I can pull out a futon for you.”

“Futon sounds good,” Daiki answered as he kicked his shoes off.

“Cool, well how about you have the first shower while I set up your bed.”

Daiki nodded and made his way to the bathroom. As he closed the door behind himself he began to run his fingers over the pinkie that had held Kagami’s. They’d made a promise and even though Kagami had said that it was something that he used to do when he was a kid, it still felt so special to Daiki.

Grinning like an idiot, he started running the hot water for his shower.

**____________________________**

Awhile later there was a knock at the door as Daiki stood in the shower, letting the warm water cascade down his body.

“Yeah?” he said absent mildly.

“I’ve got a change of clothes for you,” Kagami’s voice sounded though the wall.

Daiki heard the bathroom door open causing him to jump into the corner of the shower, covering his nether regions, as Kagami’s hand, full of clothes, slipped in between the crack.

“I’ll just leave them here,” he said, his hand placing the pile on the bathroom floor before retreating and pulling the door shut again.

Daiki stood in the corner of the shower petrified as his heart slammed against his chest. This guy was seriously way too casual about the boundaries of a friendship. Maybe if they’d been dating that would have been ok but shit, if Kagami had come in then than he would have seen everything. Embarrassment flooding his face, Daiki crouched down with the cold tiles against his back and the hot water rushing over his head.

He wondered how he was going to make it through the night with Kagami in such close proximity.

**____________________________**

Daiki fidgeted slightly as he looked at himself in the mirror.

Kagami had given him a black tracksuit to wear and for the first time in a long time someone else’s clothes felt big on him. Yes, he was taller than the red head by two centimetres, something that Daiki wasn’t ever going to let the other boy forget, but Kagami was definitely broader than him, so much so that the hems of the trousers skimmed the floor. He scowled slightly, wondering if Kagami had given him the largest thing that he owned on purpose because right now, as he looked himself over once more, he had to admit that he looked very child-like.

Pulling slightly at the loose collar of the tracksuit he was reminded of the second thing that was making him restless; Kagami’s smell. The clothes were definitely fresh and clean as he could detect the washing powder that the red head used, but underneath that was Kagami’s scent; a scent that Daiki really liked.

He wondered if Kagami wore this outfit often.

Daiki wasn’t able to ponder the thought for long though, as there was a sudden knock at the bathroom door that made him jump slightly.

“Hey Aomine,” Kagami called from the other side, “you almost done?”

“Ah....yeah....I’m all done,” he said hurrying to leave as he realised that he’d definitely been in there way to long.

Opening the door he almost stumbled right into the other boy, who was holding a mug of something in his hand.

“Sorry......bathroom’s all yours,” Daiki said side stepping around the red head.

“Cool,” Kagami smiled as he handed over the cup in his hand. “Here, I made hot chocolate.”

“Oh sweet, thanks,” Daiki said, eagerly taking it.

“Your futon’s already set up too.”

“Great,” he hummed as he took a sip of the hot coco.

_Ah man this is good,_ Daiki thought to himself; he’d definitely been spoilt with the red head’s cooking today.

“Alright, well......just yell if you need me,” Kagami said before walking into the bathroom and closing the door.

Daiki grinned as he wrapped his fingers around the warm mug and headed towards the living room.

As he exited the hallway, he paused, glancing around the floor. Where was the futon? Kagami had said that it was all ready to go so, naturally, Daiki assumed that it had been set up out here. Maybe he’d set it up in the spare bedroom instead to give Daiki more privacy?

Smiling at the red head’s thoughtfulness, Daiki turned back down the hallway and made his way to the spare room. However, as he opened the door he was met with just the empty bed; stripped of all its sheets. Daiki was thoroughly puzzled now. Maybe he hadn’t looked properly in the living room?

Returning to the main room he walked from one end of the space to the other; confirming that there was, in fact, no futon. Was there another room in the apartment that he didn’t know about?

“Hey, Kagami,” he called heading back towards the bathroom. “Where’s the futon?”

“Wha....” came the red head’s voice over the noise of running water.

“I said, where’s the futon?”

“It’s in my bedroom, where I set it up.”

Daiki almost dropped his precious cocoa.

It was where?

Glancing further down the hall to where Kagami’s bedroom was, the door open ajar, Daiki swallowed before edging slowly along the floor boards. As he came to stand in front of the area of Kagami’s apartment where he’d never been before he felt himself begin to tremble slightly.

_Alright calm down,_ he told himself, _me and Kagami are friends now. I mean, if Tetsu was staying at my place I’d do the same thing._

“Did you find it?” Kagami called, making him jolt slightly.

Taking in a deep breath, he put a nervous hand on the door and pushed, making it swing inwards to reveal the futon.

“Yeah, found it,” he hollered back as he let his eyes wander around Kagami’s bedroom.

The first thing that Daiki noticed was that it seemed to match the rest of the house for neatness. Seriously, Kagami wasn’t someone Daiki had originally pegged for being tidy. It also disappointed Daiki that the boy’s room was just as sparsely decorated as the living room, though he was glad to see that there was at least one basketball poster stuck to the red head’s wall; a little touch of Kagami.

The red head’s bed was pushed into the far corner of the room, under the window sill which was dotted with a few personal items and an alarm clock. His shelf also appeared to have more personalized objects on it too, including a very worn out looking basketball.

All in all, Daiki didn’t feel like it really reflected the room of a teenage boy; if his room was anything to go by. Yet maybe it was best that Kagami’s room wasn’t as chaotic as his, since the futon was practically taking up the rest of the floor space.

Daiki blushed slightly as he noticed how close it was to Kagami’s bed.

Closing the door behind himself he moved over to sit on the futon, making himself comfy after he discovered that it was one of the soft and fluffy kinds.  He then enjoyed the rest of his warm drink while he waited for Kagami.

**____________________________**

As Daiki had once said, he wasn’t very good at sitting still for too long. When Kagami had come back into his room he had stopped at the door, blinking slightly, and stared at one Aomine Daiki who was currently peering under the red head’s bed with his bum up in the air.

“Y...yo....” Daiki said nervously as he retracted himself from the underside of the boy’s bed.

“What are you doing?” Kagami asked dryly, shutting the door behind himself.

“Looking for your porn,” he said cheekily.

Kagami rolled his eyes and let off a big sigh.

“I told you last time, I’m not like you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Daiki said waving him off as he started shifting through the red head’s book shelf. “So where do you hide it?”

“Aomine,” Kagami said in a warning tone, “I don’t have any.”

Daiki looked back at the other boy who was currently giving him a mild death glare and decided that he better not push it.

“You’re so boring,” he sighed, sitting back down on his futon.

Kagami just rolled his eyes again as he made his way over to sit on his bed. Daiki watched as the red head towelled the rest of his hair dry; flicking small water droplets into the air. He didn’t think that he’d ever seen Kagami with wet hair before. Even when their teams had run into each other at the hot springs that time, his hair hadn’t been damp at all.

Red eyes flicked over to Daiki, catching his stare. Feeling embarrassed over being caught, Daiki moved his attention to other parts of the room. Kagami’s eyes however seemed to stay on him. They sat in an awkward silence before Daiki heard Kagami draw in a breath to start speaking, causing him to cringe slightly, knowing the red head’s question was going to be about his lingering attention.

“Did you want a different change of clothes?”

Daiki blinked as he turned to look back at the other boy. That wasn’t the question he’d been expecting.

“Huh?”

“Well I gave you those ones because I figured they’d be more comfortable to sleep in but maybe I should have given you something smaller,” Kagami said as his eyes looked him over.

Daiki blushed slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away.

“Ah, nah these are fine....” he mumbled.

“You sure?”

Daiki nodded as he thumbed the end of the sleeve.

“Alright,” Kagami shrugged as he stood back up. “Anyway we should probably go to bed. I’ve got to get up early for practice tomorrow.”

“You have practice before school?” Daiki groaned as he began sliding under the covers, intending to roll himself up in the blankets as much as possible.

“Yeah,” the red head said, giving him an odd look. “Don’t you?”

“I have no idea,” he shrugged. “If we do, I’ve never been to one.”

Kagami just gave him a stare of disbelief before sighing and shaking his head.

“There’s no way I could get away with your attitude on our team,” the red head said with a soft smile as he picked up Daiki’s empty mug.

“Whatever man, it’s not like I need to really practice that hard anyway. I still kick your ass in all our one-on-ones.”

Kagami’s eyebrow twitched slightly as a cocky grin slipped onto his face.

“Maybe; but how about you let me know when you win a championship over us,” the red head said, gloating.

Daiki narrowed his eyes as he tucked the blanket up to his chin.

“Act all high and mighty now Bakagami but I ain’t going to lose next time,” he growled.

Kagami’s face broke into a grin.

“You know, you need to work on your threats, Ahomine,” the red head said opening his bedroom door. “Cause it’s hard to take you seriously when you look like a blanket burrito.”

Daiki felt heat rush across his skin as Kagami widened his smile.

“Sh...shut up...idiot...” he managed to mumble out before snuggling further under the blankets.

Kagami threw his head back and laughed as he walked out of the room, shutting the door. Daiki just tried to bury himself further into the sheets as he continued to hear the red head’s laugh from the hallway. Since when had Kagami gotten so good at come backs? It seemed as though Daiki’s sassiness was rubbing off on him. He didn’t really mind though, since it showed just how much time they actually spent with each other.

Blushing hard at that thought, Daiki covered his face with the pillow; breathing in a familiar and calming scent. He wondered if he’d picked up any of Kagami’s traits too.

**____________________________**

Kagami had come back into the room shortly afterwards and switched off the lights before hopping into his own bed. With a soft ‘good night’ the room had then been enveloped in silence.

Daiki lay tucked up in the futon blankets as he stared at the ceiling, too excited to sleep. This was a sleepover so shouldn’t they be chatting into the night? Kagami, however, had practice early tomorrow and probably wouldn’t appreciate his constant yapping. Yet Daiki wanted to ask questions; the sort of questions that you could only ask at sleepovers. Like, ‘have you ever kissed a girl’ or ‘what’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done’. Even things such as ‘what’s your favourite hobby’. There were so many things that he really wanted to know.

Daiki wondered if Kagami even had someone that he already liked....

“Hey Kagami,” he mumbled into the darkness.

There was a responsive grunt from the bed next to him but nothing more.

....

.....

Shit......no actually that wasn’t something he wanted to know. He didn’t think that he could handle knowing who Kagami liked.

“What is it?”

“Ah.....um....” Daiki fumbled as he struggled to come up with a different question. “Are you....going to...............make me lunch tomorrow?”

There was silence in the room once again and Daiki started mentally berating himself.

_What the fuck?_

_You’ve already been spoilt with his food today, now you’re just going to seem greedy._

“I don’t see why not?”

Daiki felt his breath catch as he wobbled out a surprised, ‘really?’

“Yeah, I’ll just make extra,” Kagami said in a nonchalant tone.

Daiki couldn’t stop the grin that pushed at the corners of his mouth.

“You promise?”

“Ha-ha, yeah I promise,” Kagami laughed.

Daiki didn’t know what made him do it but he took his hand out from under the covers and held it up towards Kagami’s bed.

“Pinky promise?”

He then watched as Kagami’s body shifted to face him making him instantly regret his words. When they’d made a promise before it had been serious and about something important, but right now Daiki was just joking around.

Kagami was probably going to get mad at him.

Dreading the red head’s wrath, he bit his bottom lip as he saw the red head’s face peer down at him through the darkness.

“You really are an idiot sometimes,” Kagami said as a smile touched his face.

Daiki felt a blush fill his cheeks as he began to lower his hand. Seriously, what had he been thinking?

He froze, though, as warm skin suddenly touched the back of his hand. His heart then began to beat wildly in his chest as he felt fingers map their way across his knuckles, until coming to rest on his pinkie.

“But yeah, I pinky promise,” Kagami almost whispered as Daiki felt their pinkies wrap around each other.

_Fuck._

He was so glad that the lights were out because there was no way his face wasn’t the colour of a tomato at the moment.

Trying to control his breathing as they squeezed their fingers together in a promise, Daiki wished that he could hold onto Kagami like this forever.

After a while, though, seeming to decide that their promise had been made, Kagami retracted his hand.

“Now go to sleep Aomine,” the red head said softly, tucking himself back under the covers.

Daiki nodded as he copied his friend and snuggled into his blanket, a warm giddiness running though his entire body as he hugged his hand to his chest. Smiling to himself, he decided that he didn’t need to know who Kagami liked or any of those other unimportant things. Where their friendship was right now was perfect.

 

May 15th

Daiki woke the next morning to the sounds of Kagami moving in and out of the room as the boy got ready for school. Groaning slightly he pulled the blanket up over his head as he attempted to keep the warmth of the futon in.

“Aomine, it’s time to get up,” Kagami called.

Daiki only groaned louder as he tried to bundle himself up inside the blankets more.

“Come on,” the red head said nudging him with his toe. “I don’t wanna be late.”

Maybe at a different time of the day Daiki would have sympathised with the other boy however it was the early hours of the morning and well, needless to say, Daiki wasn’t a morning person. Sticking his hand out of the covers he tried to swat away the red head, however, the more he refused to leave the warmth of the blankets the more Kagami nudged him with his foot; to the point that he was almost rolling him off the futon.

“Leave me alone,” Daiki mumbled, trying to reposition himself.

Kagami let out a long sigh before opening the bedroom door and making his way down the hallway. Daiki smiled to himself as he snuggled further into the blankets, it was so nice and warm in between the sheets. Kagami probably didn’t even need him to get up this early. The red head was most likely just trying to be organized or something, so Daiki didn’t really need to worry. Besides, he was an expert at getting ready in a flash.

A short moment later however, Daiki heard Kagami come back into the room and crouch down beside the futon.

“Aomine, get up or I’m going to pour this on you.”

Daiki stuck his head out from under the blanket; not liking the sound of that at all. He saw that Kagami was holding a bowl of something in his hand, raised in a ready position. Maybe he should just get up. He doubted that Kagami had anything particularly nasty in the bowl, since whatever the red head was threatening to pour on him would undoubtedly get on to the futon as well, but he wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to find out what it was anyway.

However as their gazes’ met he saw the challenge in the red head’s eyes and his previous decision to rise left him.

“Do your worst,” he said in a childish and defying tone.

Kagami raised his forked eyebrows before wrenching the blankets out of Daiki’s grip. He then pulled the collar of Daiki’s tracksuit towards him and dumped the contents of the bowl into the opening; directly onto his skin.

Daiki shrieked.

Needless to say he was out of bed faster then he’d ever been in his whole life.

“Fuck you, asshole,” Daiki yelled as he desperately tried to dislodge the ice-cubes from his clothes.

Kagami just let out a bellowing laugh as he clutched at his stomach.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha......shit....your face....” the red head gasped in between laughs. “Fuck.....I wish I had a camera..........and.....that sound you made.......ha-ha-ha.......I don’t think I’ve ever heard you make a sound like that before.....”

“Shut up,” Daiki growled, feeling his face burn as he managed to remove the last ice block.

Kagami just laughed harder.

Feeling slightly irritated, Daiki picked up one of the blocks of ice and ditched it at the laughing red head.

“Ow, that hurts,” Kagami chuckled, bringing his hands up to shield his face. “That’s ice you’re throwing, jerk.”

“Oh really,” Daiki said, sarcasm lacing his voice as he picked up a large handful of the cubes and attempted to dump them on the red head. “I never would have figured that.”

“Ah, stop, stop,” Kagami cried as Daiki tried to tip his handful out. “I’m in my school uniform you idiot.”

Daiki didn’t have an ounce of sympathy in him at that moment. However, before he could get his revenge, Kagami lashed out and grabbed his wrists, pulling Daiki’s hands apart; an act that caused all the ice cubes that he’d been holding to bounce onto the floor once again. Annoyed that Kagami had stopped him, he desperately tried to pull his hands free from the red head’s grip. As he struggled, though, he felt his foot land on a block of ice and before he knew it he was flat on his back with a heavy weight on his chest.

Groaning slightly he looked down to see a tuft of red hair only inches away from his face.

Daiki froze.

All thoughts of revenge left him as he slowly realised that Kagami was lying on top of him, the boy’s hands still griping his wrists. With a huff Kagami lifted his chin to look at him and Daiki felt his heart start beating in his chest; their faces were really close.

“Ok, look, I’m sorry alright,” Kagami said letting go of Daiki’s wrists and propping himself up on his elbows. “I had to get you up somehow and I know you’re mad but I really don’t feel like wrestling this early in the morning.”

Daiki couldn’t say anything as he tried to control his breathing. He could feel the heat from the red head’s body begin to seep into his. Fuck.

“So....are we all good?” Kagami asked hesitantly in the silence.

Looking into red eyes that were only mere inches away from him Daiki felt his mouth go dry as the heat from Kagami’s body seemed to have spread to his cheeks. Not trusting himself to say anything he just nodded.

Kagami let out a small sigh of relief before lifting himself up; helping Daiki get to his feet in the process.

“I’ll clean up and get breakfast ready while you get dressed,” the red head said.

Daiki could only nod with flushed cheeks as he hurried out of Kagami’s bedroom to change in privacy.

_Fuck_

**____________________________**

Once he’d managed to calm himself down again and change into his school uniform, Daiki groggily made his way towards the living room, the smell of breakfast making his stomach rumble. Stumbling through the door while rubbing sleep from his eye, Daiki froze as he was met with a heavenly sight. Kagami was in the kitchen humming to himself while he prepared breakfast, a warm smile dusting his lips.

Fuck, Daiki really needed to start carrying a camera around with him.

Kagami turned and spotted him standing like a zombie in the doorway, giving a smile that made Daiki want to melt onto the living room floor.

“Good timing,” the red head said as he dished whatever he’d been preparing onto plates. “Breakfast’s ready.”

Daiki felt his stomach grumble loudly as he nodded before taking a seat at the table. He then watched as Kagami placed a plate of food down in front of him.

“What’s this?” he asked as he felt his mouth drool over the foreign assortment of food.

This wasn’t the breakfast that he was use to.

“It’s called an American breakfast,” Kagami explained as he sat down opposite him. “Hope you like it.”

Daiki could only nod as he dug into the food in front of him.

Needless to say, he now had a new favourite type of breakfast.

**____________________________**

Daiki sat at the apartment entrance lacing up his shoes, getting ready to leave, as Kagami came to stand next to him.

“Here,” the red head said, holding out a rectangular wrapped object, “don’t forget this.”

“And....what is _this_?” Daiki asked, blinking at the new object in his hands.

“You really are still half asleep, aren’t you?” Kagami laughed as he sat down next to him to put his shoes on too, their hips bumping in the process. “It’s the lunch you made me pinky promise you for.”

Daiki felt his cheeks flush as he gripped the wrapped, now identifiable, bento.

“Thanks,” he managed to mumble out weakly.

Kagami grinned as he stood back up, slinging his school bag over his shoulder.

“Come on, I’ll walk you to the train station.”

**____________________________**

As they stood at the station waiting for his train to arrive they discussed basketball tactics; all the while, Daiki kept a firm hold on his bento. He couldn’t wait for lunch time.

“Dude that wouldn’t even work,” Daiki stated as they delved deeper into their basketball discussion.

“Yeah it would,” Kagami argued, not backing down.

“How?”

“If Midorima played shooting guard then it’d work.”

Daiki rolled his eyes.

“Ok, yeah sure,” he said, putting in as much sarcasm as he could muster, “literally anything would work if the moss head was shoot–”

“Good morning, Kagami-kun, Aomine-kun,” a voice suddenly sounded next to them, breaking them from their conversation.

Daiki was pretty sure that he jumped about just as high as Kagami did.

“Fuck’s sake Tetsu,” he growled, willing his heart to stop trying to escape from his chest. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question Aomine-kun,” his old shadow answered. “While I happen to be travelling to school for morning practice, you appear to be on the wrong side of town. Also, does your mum know that you’re out of bed this early?”

Kagami started laughing at those words as Daiki bitterly remembered the ice down his shirt from earlier.

“Shut up idiot,” Daiki hissed at the still chuckling red head.

“So what _are_ you doing here Aomine-kun?” the light blue haired boy asked, clearly not ready to let Daiki worm his way out of this one.

He, however, had no intention of informing–

“Ah, Aomine stayed at my place last night.”

_Damn it Bakagami! Now he won’t ever let me live this down!_

“Is that so,” Tetsu said as calculating eyes landed on him.

Daiki physically took a step back.

“I’m glad that you two have become such good friends,” the shadow continued, turning his attention back to the red head.

Kagami just shrugged but there was no mistaking the smile that formed on his lips. It was one of those smiles that made Daiki’s heart pound against his chest and he probably would have just stayed there, starring at it, if it hadn’t been for the overhead announcer informing the platform that his train was now pulling into the station.

“Ah, gotta go,” he said hastily swinging his two bags over his shoulder, making sure not to drop his bento.

“Alright, well let me know when you want to catch up for basketball again,” Kagami called as Aomine squeezed in between all the morning salary men.

He nodded and waved goodbye before being pushed onto the very crowded train, not missing Tetsu’s questioning stare in the process. Sighing to himself, he tried not to step on anyone’s toes as he realised he’d have to talk to Tetsu eventually about what was going on. As the train smoothly pulled away from the station, Daiki wondered how long he could avoid having the conversation with his old shadow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies  
> I hope you enjoyed the double chapters :D  
> My next chapter wont be for a while, sorry. I've pumped out a lot of chapters this month, 7 in the last 5 weeks to be exact, and I need a little break :(
> 
> Let me know how you think the story is going though ^_^ I always love getting your feedback <3  
> Cheers <3


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone  
> I know I've been away for a while, but I've finally gotten this chapter done.  
> So I hope you enjoy it ^_^

June 17th

Apparently a month was the maximum amount of time he was able to avoid Tetsu, before their little group had decided that they needed another catch up. This was the reason that he was now awkwardly walking down a street with his old shadow at his side as they headed towards Kise’s birthday party.

“So it’s been six months since you first admitted to liking Kagami-kun,” Tetsu stated, breaking their silence. “When are you planning on asking him out?”

Daiki inwardly groaned, not wanting to talk about this topic in the slightest.

“You seem to have become good friends with him lately,” the light blue haired boy continued. “He’s always talking about you at practice and says that you often spend the night at his after your basketball catch ups. I think now would be a good time.......don’t you?”

Running his hand through his hair with a sigh, Daiki decided that Tetsu at least deserved an explanation after everything that he’d done for him.

“Ah, look Tetsu.....the thing is....” Daiki began; aware that sky blue eyes were boring into the side of his head. “I.....I’ve decided that Kagami’s friendship means more to me than dating him so.....so I won’t be asking him out.....not....at the moment......or.......ever.......”

Not receiving any response from the shadow, Daiki turned to glance at his old friend, making sure that he was, in fact, still there. Tetsu’s expression, though, was not one that he’d been expecting. Instead of his usual blank look, a sad smile was now etched onto his face.

“Akashi-kun was right,” he said softly, “you’ve developed feelings beyond a crush.”

Daiki blinked, not really understanding what the other boy was saying. Also, what did Tetsu mean when he said Akashi.....did his former captain know? Mentally groaning to himself, he realised that yes of course Akashi would have figured it out, nothing slipped past that guy. Well, it could have been worse, it could have been Midorima....or Kise.

He was pulled from his worried thoughts by Tetsu’s voice.

“Well....whatever choice you make Aomine-kun, I will stand by you,” his old shadow said with warmth in his voice, “but are you really alright with just being friends with Kagami-kun?”

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it a lot,” Daiki nodded, “but the risk of telling Kagami and losing what we have is way too high.”

“Does that mean............you’re fine if he dates someone else then?”

Daiki froze as he felt fear grip his heart.

“Wha....what do you mean?”

“Just think about it for a moment,” Tetsu said. “He’s not going to stay single forever and if it’s not you then someone else is going to come along and ask him out eventually. So that’s why I wanted to know if you are fine with him dating someone else?”

Daiki felt as though a knife had been stabbed right through his chest. The thought of Kagami dating someone else.......no.......he couldn’t......

“I....no....I don’t want that.....” he choked out.

Why had he never thought about that before?

Of course Kagami would eventually date someone; the guy was practically a chick magnet. How had he managed to delude himself that the arrangement that he had with the red head was ok? He didn’t want to see Kagami with someone else.......but.......fuck......he didn’t want to lose the red head’s friendship either.

Daiki felt his chest rise and fall as he took in shaky breaths. What was he going to do?

He eventually noticed that blue eyes, filled with concern, were staring up at him and he realised that Tetsu’s news had caused him to stop walking. Not trusting his legs to keep standing for much longer he headed towards a bench a little further up the street and let his shocked body collapse onto the wooden seat.

“Wh.....what am I going to do Tetsu?” he asked weakly as his old shadow came to sit down next to him.

“I....honestly......I don’t know....” the light blue haired boy whispered. “As I said before, I’ll stand by whatever decision you make, but Aomine-kun you need to understand that you can’t have it both ways–”

“I know, I know,” Daiki almost shouted as he gripped his hair.

His brain felt like it was going to explode. He thought that he’d passed all this complicated thinking long ago. Seriously, how had he not thought of this?

“You don’t have to decide now,” Tetsu said gently, “but I think it is something important that you need to think about.”

Daiki nodded, not being able to form any words in his mouth.

_What am I going to do now?_

More importantly, how was he going to face Kagami?

**____________________________**

They arrived at the party much later then they had intended as Daiki had needed some time to pull himself together. Ringing the doorbell to a white and very large house, he and Tetsu were greeted by the birthday boy himself.

“Kurokocchi! Aominecchi!”

“Happy birthday,” they said together as the blond flung his arms around their shoulders in a tight embrace.

“Thank you! But you’re soooooo late,” Kise whined with fake tears. “I was worried that you both weren’t going to come.”

“Sorry Kise-kun, Aomine-kun had some things to deal with before we came,” Tetsu said, passing the blame onto him.

Daiki just rolled his eyes as Kise used his famous high pitched whiney tone to pronounce his name.

“But we’re here now,” Tetsu interjected.

“Yes, yes,” the blond chirped, snapping back to his bubbly personality. “Come on in, come on in. The parties already in full swing.”

Daiki raised his eyebrows at that as they moved inside to take their shoes off. Kise had organized to have a sleepover party for his birthday; but why he would want to have such a childish thing Daiki would never know.

After removing their shoes, they followed the bouncing blond down the long hallway to where the sounds of mingling voices could be heard. Stepping into the living room, Daiki was met with a lot more people than he had expected to be there. It looked as though Kise’s whole basketball team had been invited, along with all the Generation of Miracles and a surprisingly high number of good looking people who Daiki could only assume were models that the blond worked with.

“Oi Kise, are all these people sleeping over?” Daiki asked as he tried to figure out how they were all going to fit.

“Aominecchi shhhhhh,” the blond said glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone had heard. “I only invited a couple of people to stay the night.”

“Oh,” Daiki said as he scanned the full room. “Hey.....is.....Kagami here yet?”

“Yes he is, and Aominecchi you should see the cake he made for me,” Kise practically bubbled.

“Maybe later,” he said absentmindedly as he failed to spot the red head. “Do you know.......where he is?”

“Ah, dunno,” his friend replied as he gave a quick sweep of the room himself. “He was over by the couches last time I saw him.”

Daiki nodded as he moved through the crowd to where Kise had been pointing.

He didn’t know why but he felt a foreboding feeling pool in the bottom of his stomach. Maybe he was just feeling nervous because of his talk with Tetsu.

As he moved through the un-naturally tall crowd, though, he struggled to locate the red head. Seriously, you’d think that finding 190cm tall guy would be easy.

_He was over by the couches,_ Kise’s high pitched voice rang through his head.

Yeah, except that Daiki couldn’t find these damn couches.

It was then that he heard Kagami’s laugh, off to the left.

_That way._

Feeling like a predator that had locked onto its prey, Daiki moved through the crowd with more ease, now that he had a proper direction to head towards.

Exiting the dense swarm of people he spotted the couches and found the red head instantly. He was sitting on a large white couch and surrounded by a group of pretty girls; some he recognized from their basketball game all those months ago.

Daiki felt his body freeze up.

Incapable of moving a muscle, he wondered if this was the foreboding feeling that he’d been experiencing earlier as he watched girls fawn all over the smiling red head. The two closest to Kagami had even hooked their arms through his, as if to discourage him from getting up; not that the red head seemed to be in any hurry to leave.

Daiki felt as though he was going to be sick as he clutched at his somersaulting stomach; his chest tightening in the process. Tetsu had been right; there was no way Kagami was going to stay single for long, not when he had so many options.

Fuck, he really didn’t want to see that happen. Yet what was he meant to do? Kagami seemed to be enjoying himself and if Daiki just waltzed in and demanded his attention then wouldn’t the red head get annoyed at him?

As he stood there debating with himself on what to do, he saw Kagami glance around the room and as red eyes landed on him Daiki felt his heart skip a beat. A warm grin instantly formed on Kagami’s face before Daiki then watched as the red head made an effort to detach himself from the girls.

Unable to stop himself, Daiki returned the grin and shakily made his way over to the group.

“Yo,” he said hesitantly, not missing the death glares that all the girls were now giving him.

Even the girls that he’d never met before, and hadn’t traumatized with a basketball, were giving him the stink eye as if to say ‘how dare you interrupt our Kagami time’.

“You’re late, as usual,” the red head said with a smile as he rose to his feet, giving Daiki a soft punch in the arm.

Daiki just shrugged, not really knowing what else to do. For some reason a logical excuse didn’t want to form in his mind and it wasn’t like he could just say that he'd had a little freak out on the way over here.

“Kagami-kun,” one of the girls ventured, “who is this?”

“Ah, this is Aomine,” the red head replied, turning back to face them, “he’s a good friend of mine.”

Daiki felt his chest swell slightly from that high praise and couldn’t stop the smugness from crawling onto his face. Some of the girls saw his look and seemed to scowl even harder.

“So do you two play basketball together?” a pretty, thin faced girl asked as she reached out to try and drag Kagami back onto the couch.

“Actually we’re on different teams,” Kagami began, oblivious to what the girl was trying to do.

Daiki, however, wasn’t going to stand for it.

There was no way he was going to be able to sit through watching Kagami getting fawned over for the rest of the party. Before any of them could ask another question he cut in, determined to keep Kagami out of their hands.

“Hey Kagami, Kise said that you made him a cake.”

“Yeah, what of it?” the red head asked turning to look back at him, already half bent over the couch.

“Show me,” Daiki demanded with a smirk.

Kagami rolled his eyes but let a small smile slip onto his lips.

“Fine,” he said standing back up, causing the girl to let go.

Daiki grinned even wider as she huffed with annoyance.

“Kagami-kun....” a big-chested girl began.

“Ah, sorry, we’ll be back soon,” the red head said with an apologetic smile before heading into the crowd.

Daiki followed behind with a slight spring in his step, as he congratulated himself on his small victory.

He soon found, however, that it was impossible to keep up with his friend as they weaved through the masses. It seemed that every time Kagami managed to jump through an opening Daiki would get cut off by people going in a different direction and by the fifth time he’d completely lost the red head.

_Damn it._

He wasn’t use to being in such tall crowds.

Before he could panic too much, though, he spotted Kagami making his way back through the packed space towards him. A sense of relief flooded through him as he made an effort to meet the red head half way.

“We’re getting lost in crowds again,” Kagami smiled as they reunited once more. “Here....”

Daiki looked down to see that Kagami was holding out his hand and, as memories from the Children’s Day festival danced through his mind, he couldn’t help but smile. Extending his own arm, he let the red head wrap his fingers around his wrist and lead him out of the crowd.

**____________________________**

“Wow, it’s double layered,” Daiki whistled as he inspected the honey and lemon cake.

“Yeah, Kise said a lot of people were coming so I made it bigger than usual,” the red head smiled as he leaned against the kitchen counter. “Although he didn’t tell me that there would be this many people, so I’m not even sure if there will be enough for everyone.”

Daiki made a mental note to make sure he got a piece as he put the lid back on top.

They then continued to chat about what they’d both been up to that week, not having seen each other since last Sunday. Daiki liked that they were now at a point where they could talk about their lives easily with each other, even sit through long silences comfortably. If this had been a couple of months ago Daiki would have been freaking out over having to talk to Kagami about something other than basketball. Instead he was now happily sitting on the counter next to the red head, their sides brushing slightly every so often.

After a while, though, their conversation became interrupted by a flurry of pink hair dashing into the kitchen.

“Dai-chan,” Satsuki squealed as she rushed towards him. “You’re finally here.”

“Hey Satsuki,” he smiled giving her a pat on the head as she dragged him off the counter so that she could squeeze him around the middle.

“What are you two doing, tucked away in here all by yourselves,” she asked, pulling away and looking from one to the other.

Daiki didn’t miss her suggestive tone, which succeeded in making his cheeks burn.

“I was just showing Aomine the cake I made,” Kagami smiled.

Satsuki giggled and was about to say something else when a voice rang out in the kitchen.

“Kagami-kun.”

Daiki cringed at the high pitched tone and then watched with irritation as a tall slender girl with long black hair strode towards them.

“Natuski-san, hey, what’s up?”

“You were gone for so long that I came to look for you,” she whined, coming to stand next to the red head.

“Ah, shit, it’s already gotten so late,” Kagami muttered as he glanced up at the kitchen clock before sheepishly giving his attention back towards the girl. “Sorry, we kinda got distracted catching up.”

“That’s ok,” the black haired girl said with a fake smile, “but everyone’s been waiting for you, so, shall we?”

“Alright,” Kagami smiled and then paused. “Aomine.....you coming?”

Daiki blinked away his irritation as blue eyes met hope-filled red ones.

“Ah yeah,” he mumbled, breaking their eye contact, “in a minute.”

Kagami nodded and gave a warm smile before being led from the kitchen.

As he watched them go Daiki let out an exhausted sigh while running a hand through his hair.

“Frustrated?” Satsuki asked.

“You have no idea,” Daiki growled, gripping the back of his neck. “Satsuki, what do I do? I don’t want to have this.....this tug of war thing....but they’re seriously asking for it.”

“I’m guessing you started it though,” she teased, “by dragging Kagamin away first?”

Daiki just gave her an unamused glare.

“Alright, alright,” Satsuki said with a soft smile. “If you want my advice, then I think that you should stay by Kagamin’s side until the end of the party.”

“With all those girls?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Yes Dai-chan,” she sighed. “Listen, if you keep dragging Kagamin off all the time, then they’ll just keep dragging him back, and eventually he will get annoyed. Your best chance at keeping those girls from asking Kagamin out tonight is to stay glued to him.”

Daiki let his hands flop by his side as he gave off a loud groan.

“So I have to just sit there while these girls get to flirt with Kagami? Seriously, Satsuki? Is that the best you can–”

“Who said anything about just sitting there?” Satsuki cut in, raising her eyebrow. “If I was you, I wouldn’t let them flirt.”

He straightened slightly at that.

“H…..how do I do that?”

“It’s simple,” she shrugged, “just keep them out of the conversation, kind of like the way you did before with Himuro-kun at the Hanami event.”

“Yeah, but……that was different,” Daiki said awkwardly. “Competing against a guy is fine, but……these girls……………………......they’ve got things that I don’t……..”

Satsuki blinked at him before letting a grin slip.

“Don’t worry Dai-chan, Kagamin isn’t like you. I doubt he’ll be focusing on their boobs.”

Daiki covered his face as embarrassment flooded over it; causing Satsuki to giggle.

“Anyway, you better get going,” Satsuki said as she recovered. “I wouldn’t leave Kagamin alone with them for too long.”

Letting out a sigh and a grumble, he begrudgingly turned and left the kitchen.

**____________________________**

It didn’t take him long to find the couches this time and as he made his way towards them he began to catch some of the girl’s warning looks to stay away.

This was not going to be a fun night.

Willing himself to move forward, he eventually came to a stop in front of Kagami who glanced up at him and smiled. Daiki felt his stomach flip sideways.

Shit, what was the plan again?

Oh right, stick to Kagami and keep the conversation away from dating topics. Although, how he was even meant to get close to the other boy was beyond him. There were way too many girls surrounding the red head.

As he stood there, wondering if he should just give up now, Kagami began shuffling over on the couch and patting the space next to him for Daiki to sit.

_Alright, if you insist,_ he thought with a smirk, quickly taking the seat that was offered to him before another girl could slip into it.

Relaxing slightly, now that he had managed to position himself next to Kagami, he decided to bring out his inner asshole.

“So what are you all talking about that’s so interesting?” he asked in a bored tone; watching with amusement as the girl’s expressions turned even sourer.

“We’re swapping cooking ideas,” Kagami smiled.

“Yes, it’s so nice to finally meet a _guy_ that can cook,” one of the girls said, pointedly glaring at Daiki.

Daiki held her challenging gaze for a moment before shrugging and sticking his finger in his ear.

“Well did you get any good ones?” he asked, refusing to respond to the girl’s comment and turning back to Kagami.

“Yeah, Saeko-san gave me a recipe for a green tea chiffon cake, that I’m keen to try,” the red head beamed.

“Cool, then you can make it for me this Sunday,” Daiki said with a grin, enjoying the way the girl’s pursed their lips at this.

“Aho, who says I’ll give you any?” Kagami laughed.

“You always cook on Sundays,” he pointed out. “What’s the problem if I have a slice or two?”

“It’s the ‘or two’ that I’m worried about,” the red head said. “You know, since you’ve started coming over on a weekly base, my shopping bill has increased. Dad’s even phoned me, asking if I’ve been putting on weight because I’m buying so much extra.”

Daiki couldn’t help but throw back his head and laugh at that.

“Dude, you eat so much that I’m surprised that he even noticed.”

“Well he did.”

Daiki just continued to laugh as the girls tried to move the conversation onto a different topic.

As the night dragged on Daiki made sure to exclude the girls as much as possible, although there were some topics that he had no hope of getting into, such as shopping or the latest fashion trends. He just wasn’t interested in those things.

Unfortunately, it was these topics that they had been stuck on for the last hour of so and Daiki was about to reach his limit. It was also irritating him that Kagami seemed to be genuinely listening to what they had to say.

Letting out an agitated sigh, he gave Kagami a nudge with his leg to let the red head know that he was bored. The other boy, however, just gave him an odd look before turning back to the girl that he was currently talking to.

That pissed Daiki off.

As the girl giggled at something that Kagami had said, he finally lost his patience.

“Why are we still on this topic?” he growled. “Can’t we talk about something a little more interesting?”

The shocked and fake hurt expressions that the girls gave him didn’t concern Daiki at all, but the disapproving look from Kagami made him want to hide behind a cushion. Yet, instead of doing the proper thing and apologising, he just crossed his arms and sunk further into the couch in defiance.

Kagami didn’t say anything, just sighed, as he turned back towards the girls once again. This made Daiki clench his jaw as he felt his mood plummet.

He had fucked up.

“Sorry, Aomine can be a little………abrupt sometimes,” Kagami said in an apologetic tone.

“Oh, it’s okay, a change of topic is fine,” one of the girls said with a sickly sweet voice. “Actually I was wondering Kagami-kun……………you’re so kind and caring………you must have a girlfriend, right?”

Daiki felt his whole body stiffen.

“I………sorry, what?” the red head fumbled.

“I’m asking you if you have a girlfriend, silly,” the girl giggled, causing a couple of the other girls to giggle too.

“Oh……ah, well……”

Biting the inside of his lip Daiki could only sit there, feeling sick to his stomach, as the girls waited for the red head’s reply. However, only silence followed. Concerned slightly he glanced at the boy beside him and found that Kagami had completely frozen up, making Daiki’s stomach drop.

Shit.

Was Kagami actually dating someone already?

No, he couldn’t be. Between the amount of hours that school, basketball and Daiki himself took up in the red head’s days there was no way he’d be able to hide a girlfriend from them.

“Kagami-kun.....” the girl began cautiously, gently placing her hand on his knee.

“Ah....sorry....” Kagami said stiffly. “........no......I’m not dating anyone........”

As the girls all breathed out a sigh of relief, he felt his body go numb.

“.......why do you ask though?” Kagami continued.

“Ah, no reason,” they all giggled together, making Daiki want to hurl.

He couldn’t do this anymore.

He couldn’t sit there, unable to do anything, while these girls flirted with his crush.

Deciding to leave, he rose to his feet but before he could go far he felt a hand grab his wrist. He didn’t need to look back to know that it was Kagami’s, he’d become accustomed to the feel of the red head’s hands over the last month.

“Where are you going?” Kagami asked, a touch of concern in his voice.

“Bathroom,” Daiki managed to mutter before pulling his hand free from the red head’s grip and walking off into the crowd.

**____________________________**

Daiki managed to find a bathroom and had originally planned to remain there for the rest of the night, but eventually he was forced to leave when someone started knocking. Not wanting to rejoin the party, he had found his way outside to the backyard, where he now sat on the veranda steps with his head in his hands. Slowly breathing in the warm night air, he tryed to calm himself down and reason with his thoughts.

_Come on, it’s not like Kagami’s going to start dating one of them tonight._

_Yeah......maybe......but it’s not like I have anything that’s going to make him pick me over them._

Daiki sighed as he massaged his chest, as if that would take away the pain.

_I don’t even have boobs......_

_Obviously!_ He berated himself. _Though you don’t even know if the Bakagami likes girls..........for all you know he could........swing the other way........_

Daiki scoffed at the hopeful thought. _Yeah right._

_Well you don’t know, do you, ‘cause you’re too scared to find out._

_Of course I’m scared,_ he mentally growled. _If I find out that he only likes girls then I don’t even have a chance._

_So what are you going to do then? Ask him out?_

Daiki cringed, as though Tetsu himself had asked the question.

_I don’t know......._

_Well it’s either that or watch him date someone else._

Daiki gripped his head as he let out an exhausted groan. This wasn’t helping at all. It was just the same argument that he’s had with himself countless times before, always ending with an indecisive decision.

Sighing, he rubbed his hands over his face and got to his feet.

He figured that he’d been out there for a while now and should probably head back in before Satsuki came looking for him again. Besides, it was as Tetsu said, this wasn’t something that he had to decide right now.

**____________________________**

Daiki made his way back into the living room to find that it was a lot emptier than when he’d left. Most of the guests seemed to have gone home already, while the remainder had clumped together around the couches.

He wondered if Kagami was still there and if the red head would even care if he returned?

Sighing to himself, he ran a hand through his hair as he wandered over to join the crowd. He probably wouldn’t be able to avoid Kagami for the rest of the night anyway.

As he got closer though, a conversation stopped him dead in his tracks.

“I can’t believe that Yumi beat us,” a girl that he recognized from before grumbled.

“Yeah, not to mention that she’s super cute,” the girl that she was talking to answered. “There’s no way he’ll say no.”

Daiki didn’t like the feeling of dread that was slowly seeping into him as he quickly glanced around the room, looking for Kagami. Spotting Kise instead, who had a grin plastered to his face, he headed over towards the blond.

“Hey Kise what’s going on?” he asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

“Aominecchi,” Kise grinned, spinning around to face him, “you’ll never guess what. Just a few moments ago Yumicchi asked Kagamicchi if she could ‘talk to him’. Isn’t that exciting?”

Daiki felt as though all the blood had drained from his body. He hadn’t missed the emphases on the words ‘talk to him’ and he knew what that meant.

Taking a step back as though he’d suddenly been stung, Daiki felt his body begin to shake.

“Aominecchi.......you ok?” Kise asked, peering at him.

“Uh......yeah.....” he lied, “just......ah.......gotta go to the bathroom....”

With that he then turned away, leaving the confused blond behind.

Daiki gripped his chest, trying to will away the pain, as he made his way out of the crowd.

He’d been such a fool, believing that nothing would happen tonight, that Kagami would stay single a little longer. What an idiot he’d been.

Daiki felt his head spin as waves of regret began to flood his mind. All of the time he’d wasted, all of his stupid excuses, never working up the courage to tell the red head how he felt and now.......he had missed his chance to.......

Fuck......he felt as though a part of him had just been ripped out.......

Reaching the edge of the living room, he stared at the cream coloured wall, wanting to bang his head against it.

“Dai-chan......”

Daiki slowly turned to see Satsuki staring up at him, her eyes filled with sadness and concern.

“Hey.....” he said weakly.

“......It’ll be okay.....”she cried, gripping him around the middle, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

_Fuck.....now I might actually cry,_ he thought as he squeezed her shoulders.

“Aomine-kun.....”

Daiki couldn’t even find it in him to jump as he looked down to see that his old shadow was there too.

“......You.......were right Tetsu......” he mumbled, feeling his voice shake.

His friend didn’t gloat though, only gave him a sad look.

Unable to handle it anymore, for fear that he might breakdown right then and there, Daiki pushed Satsuki off him.

“Sorry.......but....I’m going to head home,” he choked, trying to keep his features in check.

Satsuki made a face to protest but before she could say anything, Daiki cut in.

“I......don’t really want to be here.......when......Kagami comes back......with his...............girlfriend.....”

Tetsu and Satsuki paused before nodding their understanding.

“We’ll tell Kise-kun that you were feeling sick and had to head home.”

“Thanks,” Daiki whispered.

He then turned slowly, making his way towards the hallway and away from this nightmare.

**____________________________**

Daiki shoved his hands further into the pockets of his jumper as he walked through a dimly lit park. He had altered his course for home a little, in hope that it would allow him to gain control of his emotions. Daiki didn’t really want people to see him bawling his eyes out.

Scuffing his feet along the dirt path, he didn’t really care where he ended up. He just knew that he had to keep moving; if he didn’t, Daiki was sure that he’d break down.

As he rounded a corner full of densely packed trees, he was met with a brightly lit garden; flowers and lights scattered amongst the branches. The set up was beautiful and, feeling himself smile slightly, he decided to go in.

The garden seemed to be lit with fairy lights and with the flowers in full bloom, it really was breath taking. He passed a few others who were clearly enjoying the garden as well and walked further in.

Daiki felt his smile grow and the ache in his chest lessen.

Hearing the sound of running water, he figured that there must be a fountain around somewhere and after a couple of turns he stumbled across it.

As he cast his gaze across the shimmering pond, though, Daiki froze.

There standing at the fountains edge was Kagami and a girl, who he could only presume was Yumi.

_What the fuck are they doing here?_

Acting on impulse and not wanting to be caught intruding, Daiki quickly dived behind a nearby garden wall that was framed by a moderate sized hedge.

As he sat there with his heart beating at a million miles per hour he could hear the two gently talking with one another.

Wait......what the fuck was he doing? He should have just bolted, not dived for cover. This was what he’d been trying to run away from. Also, why weren’t they back at the party? Hadn’t he left the party just so that he wouldn’t end up seeing them together? Maybe she had already asked Kagami out and now they were having a small date?

Daiki silently groaned to himself as he buried his face into his hands. He could hear the smile in Kagami’s voice and it made him want to be sick all over again.

As he sat there trying to make himself as small as possible he noticed that a silence had fallen over the garden. Not daring to even breathe, he heard the girl shuffle slightly before beginning to speak.

“Um......Kagami-kun.....the real reason that I called you out here......was to say........ah......”

Daiki felt his body go numb.

No, they weren’t dating yet. The confession was happening right now.

He heard her take in a shaky breath and in that moment Daiki wished that he was anywhere else in the world but there.

“Kagami-kun, I really like you. Please go out with me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Runs away again~


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone  
> Not to worry, I didn't run far XD  
> Here's a sneaky little double chapter for all my lovely readers ;D  
> Enjoy ~

June 17th

Daiki felt as though his heart was breaking as he rested his head in his hands, his fingers gripping the short strands of his hair.

It was all over.

Everything that he had with Kagami was falling apart right in front of him.

Fuck.

He could actually feel the corner of his eyes begin to sting as he rapidly tried to blink away the tears that were forming. There was no way he was going to cry, not here, not when the place was so silent that you would be able to hear a pebble drop.

Shutting his eyes, as though that would block out the scene that was happening behind him, Daiki waited in the pressing silence.

“You....like me....?” Kagami finally asked, unable to mask his surprise.

“Yes, for a while now,” the girl confirmed, “I’ve liked you ever since I first met you.”

“O.....oh.....” was all that came out of the red head’s mouth.

The area fell back into silence again, making Daiki grip his hair even tighter.

_Just fucking answer her already Bakagami!_ He mentally screamed, not knowing how much more of this he could take.

The idiot didn’t though.

“Um......you don’t have to answer now.......” the girl said uncertainly.

There was a long pause before Kagami finally started to speak, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I’m sorry.......but I can’t return your feelings.........I......I don’t really know you that well........”

Daiki felt his eyes snap open, his whole body frozen in place.

“Oh....well.....you don’t have to know me that well at first.....” the girl tried. “We could get to know each other better as we go along..........”

“......Sorry.....but........I’ve done relationships like that before.......and.................they don’t work......”

“I......I’d try really hard.......”

“....but.......I don’t know if I would.......”

“Oh.........”

“I’m sorry.....”

“Ah......no.....I.....it’s okay.......I....I understand.....”

“.....I’m sorry.....”

“N....no problem.....” the girl nervously laughed, her voice breaking slightly. “I.....I’ll see you back at the party..........”

Daiki could only sit and watch in shock as the girl ran past his hiding place, tears streaming down her face.

Kagami had......rejected.....her......?

_I’ve done relationships like that before.......and.................they don’t work......_

The red head had dated before? With who?

As Daiki tried to take in all this new information he heard Kagami swear loudly, making him jump. He then heard a loud clang, followed by more cursing. Had the idiot just kicked the water fountain? Too terrified to show himself, Daiki just listened as Kagami stomped around the area; the boy letting out frustrated sighs as he went.

It took a while but eventually Kagami’s stomping turned into small scuff noises. Daiki began to wonder if he should try and leave, but before he could attempt it, he heard Kagami let out one more sigh then head in his direction. The red head must have chosen to return to the party as well. Daiki decided that he would wait for the other boy to leave before making his own departure.

He waited in his hiding spot as Kagami came into view. However, the red head had only taken a couple of steps past him when he glanced over in Daiki’s direction causing their eyes to meet.

_Ah, shit......._

“Aomine?” Kagami said, shock covering his face. “What are you doing here?”

......

How the fuck could he explain this?

.........

................

“Um...........well.........I was actually–”

Before he could make up an excuse though, Kagami sighed and shook his head.

“You’re so nosy.”

Daiki could only watch in shock as the red head then moved to sit down next to him.

“I don’t know who is worse,” the red head continued, leaning back into the garden wall, “you or Kise.”

Laughing nervously, Daiki awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

Why wasn’t Kagami getting mad at him? Why wasn’t he shouting and storming off? In fact, why wasn’t he saying anything at all?

Sitting in silence next to each other, Daiki desperately tried to think of something to say, but what do you say to someone in this situation? Daiki had never rejected a girl before so he had absolutely no idea.

He was so lost in his muddled thoughts that he almost missed the moment Kagami started talking.

“I’m guessing that you heard everything then,” Kagami mumbled, his eyes staring up at the night sky.

“Ah.....yeah.....” Daiki admitted.

“Do you think I’m an asshole?”

“What....no....of course not.....”

Kagami turned to look at him, a pained expression on his face.

“Y....you alright?” Daiki asked nervously.

“No,” Kagami sighed, raking his hands through his hair. “I feel like shit.”

“....oh......right....”

Damn it. What was he meant to say? Something like, ‘I’m sorry it didn’t work out’? If he said that though, he wouldn’t actually mean it. Daiki felt really bad for the girl that got rejected, but there was also this large part of him that was glad that it hadn’t followed through.

“Hey Aomine,” Kagami mumbled. “What do you say to girls when you turn them down?”

“Huh?”

“You don’t have a girlfriend, right? I mean, I’ve never seen you with one. So I was wondering what you said to the girls that you’ve turned down.”

Daiki blinked at the serious expression on the red head’s face before letting out a hollow chuckle.

“What?” Kagami asked, lines of annoyance surfacing on his face.

“Kagami, I think you’ve got a very different image of me in your head compared to how I actually am,” he said dryly, reaching out and flicking the boy in between his furrowed brows. “Girls don’t ask me out.”

“Ow,” Kagami muttered, swatting Daiki’s hand away and rubbing his forehead. “Why not?”

“Satsuki says it’s ‘cause I’m a perv and an asshole,” he shrugged. “Turns them off apparently.”

“But you’re not,” Kagami said abruptly, “.....you act like one......but you’re not actually......”

Daiki felt heat swell in his cheeks as Kagami stared at him with a serious expression.

“Ah.....well......there’s also this constant rumour going around that Satsuki’s my girlfriend,” he quickly added, turning away from the red head’s honest gaze.

“……oh...I see....”

Daiki let out a shaky breath as he tried to control his face before looking back at Kagami.

“Yeah, I don’t have the same problems as you do,” he said. “Girls don’t fawn over me like they do to you.”

“What? Girl’s don’t fawn over me!”

“Yes they do,” Daiki almost snapped, “How can you even deny it? It’s so obvious. Like at the party tonight, they were all over you.”

Kagami’s eyes filled with pain once again, and then moved to stare at the ground.

“I.....didn’t notice it,” he mumbled. “I......I just thought that they were being friendly....”

“Seriously?” Daiki asked, as he stared at the red head in disbelief. “So you don’t know when people are flirting with you?”

“Well.......I’ve learnt to recognize certain questions,” Kagami confessed, picking at the grass between his feet. “Like, when that girl asked me if I had a girlfriend, I knew then that one of them was interested in me.”

“One?” Daiki sighed. “Try all of them.”

Kagami’s pained face turned to look at him.

“If you knew, then why’d you leave me?”

“Wait, what?”

“Once you left I couldn’t get away from them.”

“So it’s my fault?” Daiki asked, feeling anger start to rise within him.

“Yeah, I was waiting for you to come back from the bathroom, but you never did. So when that girl.....Yumi....asked me to talk to her about something I agreed just to get away from them all. Where did you go anyway?”

“For a walk,” Daiki lied in a haughty tone; immediately shutting down the conversation.

“.....oh.......” was all that the red had said in response.

A silence hung between them once again, as Kagami returned to picking at the grass.

Fuck, maybe he shouldn’t have gotten so snappy, but it wasn’t his fault. How was he meant to know that Kagami didn’t want their attention, it wasn’t like he gave off any signs.......

......

Daiki inwardly cringed.

He remembered how Kagami had frozen up when he’d been asked if he was available. That must have been the moment he realised they were interested in him. Then when Kagami reached out and grabbed his wrist......shit.....that must have been the red head’s silent plea for him to help.

Crap, looking back on it now it was kind of obvious that Kagami hadn’t wanted him to leave.

Rubbing his face with his hands, Daiki silently groaned.

Alright......maybe it was slightly his fault.....

Pulling his hands away and looking at the red-head who was still attacking the grass, he felt a small pool of guilt rise in him.

He opened his mouth to apologise, but Kagami beat him to it.

“Sorry.....” the other boy said in a voice no louder than a whisper, “I shouldn’t have gotten angry at you, I’m just.......frustrated.............sorry.......”

“....ah.....don’t worry about it....” Daiki said awkwardly; not used to having people apologise to him. “I mean, if you wanted.....next time....I could, like, warn you......or something.....”

Kagami turned to look at him with a small smile on his lips.

“Yeah, I’d like that......thanks.....”

Daiki nodded, and then turned to stare at the garden in front of them. He didn’t want Kagami to see just how happy that had made him.

Next time, Daiki wasn’t going to leave his side. No matter what.

Hearing the other boy shift beside him, he looked back to see that the red head had tucked his legs up into his chest and was now resting his chin on them; a downcast expression appearing on his face again.

“You’re really hung up about this, aren’t you,” Daiki said in what he hoped was a joking tone.

Kagami, however, just moved his head in a nodding motion; no smile adorning his features.

“If you’re so upset about it.............why didn’t you just say yes?” he asked nervously, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer.

“Because I wasn’t interested in her,” Kagami sighed. “I would have been leading her on and that would have just made me feel worse.”

“You don’t think that you could have developed feelings for her?” Daiki asked, somewhat relieved by the red head’s answer.

“No,” Kagami said, shaking his head. “I’ve dated girls that have confessed to me before, even though I didn’t have any feelings for them, because I felt like I _should_ have feelings for them. Everyone around me would tell me how lucky I was, but in the end it never worked out. If anything it usually made things worse.”

Daiki bit the inside of his lip.

“I didn’t know you had dated so many,” he said a little weakly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with a girlfriend.”

Tetsu had never mentioned it to him either.

“Not in Japan,” Kagami clarified. “These all happened back in the States.”

“Oh....”

Daiki wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“Have you ever dated someone?” Kagami asked.

“What? Of course I have,” he said.

“How did that go?”

“Not good,” Daiki sighed. “It didn’t last long.”

Three days to be precise, but Kagami didn’t need to know that.

The red head, however, just nodded in understanding as they fell into silence once again.

As they sat there Daiki heard Kagami sigh quietly. The boy still seemed to be troubled by what had happened. Deciding to comfort him in the only way he knew how, Daiki lifted his arm up and patted Kagami gently on the head.

“There, there,” he said softly.

Kagami stilled, and Daiki was instantly starting to regret his decision until the red head began to shake with laugher.

“Wha.......what the fuck are you doing?” Kagami howled, his laughter filling the garden around them.

“I......I don’t know,” Daiki blushed. “It’s what I do to Satsuki when she’s upset.”

The red head just laughed even harder.

“D....do it again,” Kagami said, reaching out and grabbing Daiki’s hand to place back on his head.

Daiki felt his cheeks burn even hotter as he complied with the red head’s demands, patting his hair and mumbling ‘there, there’. Kagami roared with laughter once again, his whole body shaking against Daiki’s

“I’m glad you find this so amusing,” Daiki said dryly; even though, on the inside, he was overjoyed that Kagami was smiling again.

“Sorry.....it’s just ‘cause it’s you,” the red head chuckled.

“I’m flattered.”

Kagami continued to laugh quietly, causing a small smile to slip onto Daiki’s own lips. Yeah, he definitely preferred it when Kagami was smiling.

“You know, to be honest, I’m kind of glad that you didn’t say yes,” Daiki admitted.“I know it’s selfish but if you got a girlfriend then she would’ve cut into our basketball time.”

Kagami turned to look at him, a small grin slipping onto his face.

“Yeah, I agree.”

Daiki smiled, glad that the red head hadn’t told him off for saying that.

“Ha-ha, what’s that look for?” Kagami laughed, catching Daiki’s expression. “Are you that happy that I picked playing basketball with you, over dating?”

“No,” he lied, trying to regain control of his features.

“Ha-ha, don’t worry,” the red head smiled. “I don’t have plans to start dating any time soon.”

“Huh, why not?”

“Well ‘cause………I’d really rather just focus on basketball at the moment,” the red head shrugged.

Daiki felt his chest tighten slightly at those words.

“For how long,” he asked hesitantly.

“Huh?”

“When do you think you’ll be interested in dating?”

“Why do you wanna know?” Kagami asked, giving him an odd look.

“So I’ll know when I have to find someone else to play one-on-one with,” he said, looking away from the red head.

It wasn’t a complete lie but it wasn’t the whole truth either. Daiki wanted to tell Kagami his feelings when he was ready to hear them. Spilling the beans now wouldn’t achieve anything, but if the red head was going to start dating then Daiki didn’t really have anything to lose by telling him how he felt.

“Heh, alright then, but what if you start dating before me?”

“Not likely to happen,” Daiki said dryly, “but I’ll let you know if I’m going to.”

_The day you tell me will be the day I tell you,_ Daiki thought glumly.

“Alright, deal,” Kagami said with a smile as he held out his pinky to him.

Smiling, Daiki extended his own pinky and wrapped it around the red head’s one.

“Deal.”

**____________________________**

They had stayed in the garden for a while, just talking about small things, until Kagami had decided that they should probably return to the party. It was Kise’s birthday tomorrow, after all.

Now ringing the doorbell to the big house, they both waited to be let back in. It didn’t take long before Kise’s surprised face appeared at the door.

“Hey,” they both said a little sheepishly.

“Aominecchi, you came back?” the blond beamed. “Kurokocchi said that you were feeling sick.”

“Ah, yeah......I’m.......feeling better now,” he said awkwardly, not missing the odd look that Kagami gave him.

“That’s great!” Kise cheered, stepping aside to let them in. “And Kagamicchi, you came back too!”

The red head just nodded as the door was closed behind them.

“I was worried when Yumicchi came back so upset,” the blond continued. “She said that you had turned her down. Then she said that she was going home because she didn’t have the courage to be around you tonight, but you didn’t end up coming back until now anyway.”

Daiki felt Kagami stiffen next to him.

This wasn’t good.

“I’m really glad that you came back,” Kise said with a sad smile, “but I don’t understand why you turned her down. Yumicchi is really cute and nice and all the guys at work like her–”

“Kise,” Daiki said with a warning tone, as he physically stepped between the two other boys, while using his slight height advantage to look down at the blond. “Back off.”

Yellow eyes widened as Kise took a couple of startled steps backwards. Daiki made sure to keep his hard even gaze as the blond quickly looked over at Kagami, who was probably wearing his kicked puppy dog face right about now.

“Ah.....right.....well none of that matters really,” Kise said with a nervous laugh. “I’m just glad you’re both back.”

Daiki relaxed his stance slightly as the blond pulled his bubbly personality back on.

“We were in the middle of cutting your cake, Kagamicchi, when you guys rang the doorbell,” he informed them. “So hurry up and take your shoes off, both of you, then come and grab a slice before it’s all gone.”

With that Kise then turned and bounded up the hallway, leaving the two other boys in an awkward silence.

Daiki slowly turned to look back at Kagami and was met with the face he knew the red head would have.

Damn.

“Hey–”

“Thanks,” Kagami said with a heavy sigh.

“Ah......no problem.”

The red head’s face however continued to remain downcast.

“Do you.......want another head pat?” Daiki tried.

A smile flickered across Kagami’s face, causing one to form on his own lips.

“Sure,” the red haired boy replied, tilting his head forward slightly.

Daiki nervously reached up and patted the top of Kagami’s head, his heart racing. He hadn’t really paid attention to it last time, but now, as he stroked it slightly, he was amazed at how soft it actually was. Kagami’s hair always stuck up in odd directions so he had assumed that the boy put gel through it, or that it was just naturally coarse. He now found, that neither of these where true, the boy’s hair was just naturally springy.

After a while Daiki noticed that Kagami’s mood wasn’t improving.

“Head pat not working?” he asked.

Kagami’s red eyes flicked up towards him and then slid off to the side with a small head shake.

Damn.

Daiki would strangle Kise if the red head was going to be like this for the rest of the night.

“Um.......well..........how about a.....hug?”

......

Wait......

What had he just offered?

As red orbs came back to look at him, Daiki felt his cheeks start to burn.

Fuck. Why had he offered that? Kagami was probably going to think he was being weird or–

“Yeah......alright,” the red head mumbled, a slight pinkness appearing on his cheeks too.

Daiki felt his heart rate spike as the other boy looked at him expectantly.

Fuck.

Taking in a deep breath he took a small step forward to close the distance between them, and then clumsily wrapped his arms around the slightly shorter male. Before he could worry too much about whether or not he was doing it right, though, he felt Kagami’s arms snake around his back and squeeze.

Daiki felt his blush spread across his entire face as they stood there awkwardly, holding one another, while his heart pounded so hard that he could feel it in his ears. He was certain that Kagami could feel it as well.

Taking in deep breaths, he tried not to notice how Kagami’s warmth was beginning to transfer to him, or how their chests were touching, or how their–

_No! Stop Brain!_ He ordered.

Trying to distract himself, he stared intently at the front door, until finally, Kagami released his hold and straightened up; letting his hands fall to his sides.

“Thanks,” the red head said quietly, not meeting Daiki’s gaze; a soft dusting of pink still lingering on his cheeks. “That helped.”

Daiki, who knew that his face was still way too red for his own liking, could only nod as he shoved his now free hands into his pockets.

They stood in an embarrassed silence for a while before Daiki forced himself to speak.

“So......shall we rejoin the party?”

Kagami nodded as he bent down so that he could take his shoes off.

Daiki followed, and as he took a seat next to the red head, their hips bumped, causing them to glance at one another, a small smile on both their faces.

Grinning to himself, Daiki could feel a warm happiness spread through his chest as he began to undo his laces. As awkward as the hug had been, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it had strengthened his and Kagami’s friendship. He couldn’t imagine Kagami hugging anyone else. Okay, maybe Kagami might hug his ‘brother’, Daiki still wasn’t sure how close those two were, but he couldn’t picture the red head doing the same to someone else, like Tetsu.

This made Daiki’s grin grow as he realised just how special that made him feel.

Maybe holding out on telling Kagami his feelings wouldn’t be so bad.

**____________________________**

Once they rejoined the party, Daiki noticed that all the girls who had been swooning around Kagami earlier that evening had left after hearing the heart-broken girl’s news. This had made both Kagami and him let out a small sigh of relief as they munched on their cake. Then afterwards, Daiki had stepped aside to explain to Satsuki and Tetsu what had happened; unable to avoid their questioning gaze any longer.

Eventually the evening began to come to a close as everyone started to set up their futons in the living room; Daiki managing to set up his bed next to Kagami’s. Once everyone was settled in and comfy, they had all chattered until the lights went out.

Daiki now lay in the room’s gloom and watched as Kagami slept peacefully; the red head having fallen asleep as soon as the lights had been switched off. As he studied the boy’s relaxed features, he smiled softly to himself. It seemed as though everything was back to normal.

Slowly shutting his eyes he hoped that it would stay like that, at least for now.

 

June 18th

Daiki woke the next morning to the sounds of people talking and moving about the living room. Groaning at the sunlight that now filled the space, he rolled over and pulled the covers above his head; hoping that he might be able to go back to sleep.

Just as he was starting to think that his plan might work though, Satsuki came along and began using her, very distinctive, manager tone. A tone that Daiki hated first thing in the morning.

“Dai-chan, I know you’re awake,” she huffed.

He just groaned once more and pulled the covers tighter around himself.

“Come on, Kagamin has made breakfast for everyone. You don’t want to miss it, do you?”

Daiki poked his head out of the covers at this new bit of information.

“Just leave my share here,” he said, patting the space next to his futon.

“You’re not eating in bed,” she snapped with a stamp of her foot.

At that moment, Kagami walked into the room carrying hot steaming plates of food, making Daiki’s stomach grumble.

“I heard that,” Satsuki said, giving him a knowing smile. “Get out of bed now, or I’ll make sure that you don’t get any.”

Daiki narrowed his eyes and pulled the covers up to his chin in defiance.

“Dai-chan,” she sighed, irritation filling her voice.

“Oi, Aho!” Kagami called as he placed the food that he was carrying on the dining room table. “You have 30 seconds to get yourself out of bed before _I_ get you out of bed.”

Daiki instantly sat up and turned to glare at the tall red head.

“Don’t you dare,” he growled.

Kagami raised his eyebrows at Daiki’s threat, as if to say ‘oh, I will’.

“You have 30 seconds,” the red head stated as he began to walk back towards the kitchen. “29, 28, 27, 26–”

“Alright, alright, I’m up,” Daiki said, hastily scrambling out of bed; he had no intention of having a repeat of last time.

As he sulked over to the table to join everyone else, he didn’t miss Satsuki’s shocked expression. That was probably the fastest she’s ever seen him move outside of the basketball court.

“Kagamin,” the girl said, rushing over to the red head as he re-entered the room carrying the rest of the food. “How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You got Dai-chan out of bed. That’s amazing!” Satsuki said in awe. “How did you do it?”

“Don’t tell her,” Daiki growled.

Kagami just ignored him.

“I tipped ice down his shirt, the first time he stayed over. Haven’t had a problem with getting him out of bed ever since.”

Satsuki’s eyes lit up with that piece of news making Daiki want to strangle the red head.

“Thanks Kagamin,” she chimed. “That’s really helpful.”

Daiki met the pink haired girl’s gaze and saw triumph written all over her face. That was it; Daiki was never going to be able to sleep in ever again.

“I hate you,” he grumbled to the red head as everyone took their seats at the table.

Kagami, however, just responded with a cheeky grin as he slid into the spot next to Daiki, giving him a small bump on the shoulder in the process.

“You do realise that once she tells my mum, it’s all over for me,” Daiki said, trying very hard to keep his annoyed expression but failing miserably; Kagami’s smile was just too damn contagious.

“Good, then maybe you’ll actually make it to your morning basketball practices,” the red head said as he began piling food up on his plate.

Daiki made a sour face before giving the other boy a good return nudge in the shoulder. All this got him though was Kagami giving him one back.

With grins on their faces and neither one wanting to back down, they continued to bump one another until Akashi glared at them from across the table.

“I would highly appreciate it if you two would hold off rough housing each other until after breakfast,” the shorter red head said. “There simply isn’t enough space at the moment.”

Kagami and Daiki grinned sheepishly before going back to their food.

Akashi was right; everyone was so tightly packed in around the table that they were all basically touching shoulder to shoulder.

Well, in Kagami’s and his case, their sides were actually touching; although, neither of them seemed to mind. At least Daiki knew he didn’t.

As he began eating his breakfast with a small smile still spread across his face, Daiki caught the red head’s grin out of the corner of his eye; a question almost forming on the other boy’s lips. He’d seen that look enough times now to know that Kagami wanted to play basketball soon.

Chuckling, Daiki whispered out a small ‘sure’, causing the red head’s grin to transform into his thousand suns smile.

Yeah, everything was back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I hope that I managed to fix most of the angst from the last chapter >.>
> 
> Let me know what you guys thought and I'll see all you lovely people again next time <3 <3 <3


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